Cornering Remus turned out to be harder than I thought. First I tried confronting him in the library. A little public for what I wanted to talk about, but I would've managed. The moment Remus spotted me he scrambled to gather his belongings before bolting from his seat. I stared after him with wide eyes before it registered he got away from me.

At dinner that same night I didn't go to the Kitchens. Instead, I waited outside the Great Hall, occasionally peaking around the wall to find Remus. He never moved from his spot next to Peter Pettigrew; both of them sat across from Sirius and James. They didn't seem to notice anything wrong, but because I was looking so closely I could see how pale and shaky Remus looked. The nearing full moon always affected him, but everyone figured he had a weak immune system.

If only they knew what his "illness" really was.

Dinner finally ended, and I made sure to keep an eye on Remus. He stayed close to his friends, but otherwise didn't look worried. He probably didn't expect me to be around since I never went to the Great Hall. I wondered if anyone else ever noticed my absence.

The four Marauders strode out of the Hall with the rest of their house. I pushed away from the wall I leant against to stand in Remus' path. His eyes widened as he stopped walking. The other Marauders kept going before they realized their friend was no longer next to them.

They quickly rushed to Remus' side, and eyed me warily. They didn't know who I was, and without my robes they didn't know what house I belonged to. They only noticed how uncomfortable I made their friend and immediately went on guard. I admired their loyalty but did not want to deal with it right now.

"Remus," I ignored the other three to maintain eye contact with the worried boy, "you know we need to talk." This wasn't a topic he should run away from. Especially if someone else knew about it.

He bit his lip. "There's nothing to talk about."

I gave him a look, and he quickly glanced at the other three boys. I understood he didn't want them to be around for this talk. "I know a place we can talk privately."

James finally puffed up, no doubt trying to look tall and important. "Whatever you need to talk about can be said in front of us."

"Yeah." Sirius crossed his arms. "Besides, why would he want to talk to you?"

His snobbish tone grated on my nerves, and I sneered at him. "Because this isn't something you would understand."

Sirius' nostrils flared in anger, and he looked like he wanted to curse me. Thankfully Remus stepped in before his friend could make a fool of himself. "It's fine, guys. I'll see you in the common room."

"Remus, you don't have to – " James tried to persuade him but Remus cut him off.

"I do, James. Just go, I'll catch up."

Peter, Sirius, and James looked at him with concern before relenting under his hard stare. They glared at me, silently letting me know if anything happened to their friend there would be repercussions.

Ignoring them I latched onto Remus' arm, and dragged him through the corridors. He tried asking where we were going, but I remained silent. I didn't want to take him to the Room of Requirement since it was my sanctuary, so I took him to the only other place I knew to be safe from prying ears.

Stopping in front of the fruit painting I reached out to drag my fingers over the pear. It giggled, then morphed into a doorknob. I heard Remus whisper in confused awe, "What?"

Without answering I opened the portrait, and dragged him in behind me. Any questions died on his lips when he saw the multitude of houselves scurrying around the room. I took in his wide eyes and dropped jaw with amusement.

"Miss King brings friend! What can Taffy do for yous?"

I smiled gently. "I'll have a plate of whatever's left over from dinner, and a Butterbeer. Remus?" The auburn haired boy continued to gape. "He'll just have a Butterbeer." Taffy popped away to gather the food and drinks. I lead Remus over to the bench so we could sit down. For the moment I let him survey the room. His stunned reaction was now fading away to interest.

"Food for Miss!"

"Thank you, Taffy." The gratitude earned me a blinding smile before Taffy popped away to continue her tasks.

Remus fiddled with his Butterbeer while I quietly ate my dinner. Neither of us spoke, me because I was eating, and also because I wanted Remus to start the conversation. I waited and waited, but he continued to sit in silence. Even after I finished eating he sat there looking at anything but me.

"Remus," he shied away from me, and his hazel eyes glanced at me, "you are my friend. I don't know why you're freaking out."

He choked out, "What?"

I took a swig of Butterbeer before continuing. "I said I don't understand why you're freaking out. Is this about you being a werewolf?" Just the word made him twitch rather violently. It was all the confirmation I needed. "You're ridiculous."

"'Ridiculous'?! Me?!" Remus shouted. "I've just found out someone knows my biggest secret. And not just anybody, but one of my friends!" Remus grew became subdued. "You know I'm a monster."

"You are not a monster!" I snapped. "You are Remus Lupin, who just so happens to turn into a wolf once a month."

He didn't seem to know how to respond. "It's not just a wolf!"

"No?" I rose an eyebrow challengingly. "A werewolf doesn't change into a wolf? Are you a bear?" My lips twitched. "A werebear."

Remus huffed, obviously not as amused as I was. "Rosabell, be serious."

"I'm being very serious." I shook off my amusement because this wasn't a laughing matter. "You're a werewolf, and I don't care."

"You – ?" He shook his head disbelievingly. "You don't care?"

"Nope." I finished my Butterbeer. "You're the nicest person in this entire castle. Why should I care if you go wolf once a month? Girls bleed once a month, and unfortunately for us it's longer than one night."

Remus shifted uncomfortably, knowing what I meant and apparently not liking the comparison. "Right, well, uh," he cleared his throat then changed topic. "If you don't want to be friends anymore I understand."

I grumbled in exasperation. "I don't care that you're a werewolf."

A spark of hope glittered in his hazel eyes. "Truly?"

"Of course not! I'd be stupid to let something so ridiculous ruin our friendship."

He scoffed and mumbled into his bottle of Butterbeer, "Unbelievable."

My lips twitched into a smile, and I waited for Remus to set down the bottle before scooting close enough to wrap my arms around him. He tensed at first, not expecting the physical contact, but he quickly melted into the embrace. He turned in his seat so he could return the hug, and buried his face in the crook of my neck.

We sat in each other's arms for several minutes. Me giving Remus silent support while he basked in the knowledge I was still his friend after discovering his darkest secret. He knew anybody else would have run, and it made him wonder what James, Sirius, and Peter would do if they found out.

The possibility of his three closest friends reacting with scorn had the arms around my body tightening. He promised himself he would never tell them.

"Are you okay, Remus?" I didn't know what he was thinking, and had no idea why he started hugging me so tightly.

I felt him nod. "I'm fine." He pulled away to look me in the eye. "Promise me you won't tell anybody about this?"

I returned the look seriously. "I promise."

Remus exhaled gustily. "I better get to the common room." We stood up once he finished the sentence. "The others will want to know what we talked about."

"What are you going to tell them?"

He worried his bottom lip. "I'm not sure. They don't know who you are, at least I don't think so."

I shrugged. "I've only talked to Sirius, and that was once at the end of last year."

Remus nodded at the information. "Then I don't think he remembers you – no offense." I waved it off. "They also don't know about me being a, you know, a werewolf."

"So what will you tell them?" I asked again.

He huffed. "I don't know."

"How about you tell them I needed help with charms homework, but I was too embarrassed to let people know, so I came to you for private help."

Remus took several deep breaths while thinking about it. Then he nodded twice. "That could work. They wouldn't ask questions since its homework related." He rolled his eyes.

Taffy appeared beside us. "Curfew be soon. Miss and Sir best goes."

Nodding to the small elf, the two of us moved to the portrait hole. Remus took one last look around before we exited. "What, exactly, was that room?"

My eyebrows rose. "It's the Kitchens," I explained. "It's where I go for all my meals."

"How'd you find it?"

I hummed thoughtfully and thought of a quick response. "Back in first year I needed help. A houself came, and I ended up finding the kitchen."

Remus' eyes suddenly darkened. "When you're dorm mates hurt you?"

His accusation made me sigh tiredly. "Forget it, Remus. It's in the past."

The hazel color of his eyes became more golden in his anger. He obviously didn't want to brush the incident off like I have, but it definitely made me feel warm knowing he cared enough to feel protective. It felt nice to have someone I could turn to when I needed them. A friend to trust.

Remus and I made it to a large portrait of a large woman in a pink dress. "Cutting it a little close there, dearies."

I rose an eyebrow but didn't comment. "Library tomorrow?"

He smiled. "Every day except weekends."

I laughed lightly in relief. I had hoped me knowing he was a werewolf wouldn't affect our friendship, and thankfully it hadn't. "Goodnight."

After walking a certain distance away I heard the portrait swing open. Clever boy didn't want me hearing the password in case I decided to use it. Though, I had no need to go into Gryffindor Tower.

Pacing in front of the blank wall on the seventh floor, I opened the door to my usual room. The right half had dark wood floors with white walls. A fireplace off in the far right corner with a recliner in front. Next to that sat a medium-sized office desk where I did all my homework. The left side of the room was very different. Depending on what I wanted there was either a four-poster bed,a swimming pool, or the entire floor was one big trampoline.

I only used the pool and trampoline when all of my work threatened to stress me to the point of tears. Otherwise I sat at the desk to complete my homework, reclined in front of the fire to read books, or I sat on the floor in a meditative position to try finding the magic that would help with my Animagus form.

With my homework for the night done, and all of my reading finished, I took my place on the floor and pulled my feet into the lotus position. Whether or not it helped I didn't know, but it did cause my legs to ache after sitting that way for several hours.

Settling down I relaxed all my muscles. I closed my eyes, took deep breaths through my nose, and let them out through my mouth. The diary said I would have to look within myself. Not just with my mind, but my entire body. So far I had no idea what that meant.

Remaining still I tried doing something different. My usual attempt obviously didn't work, so I needed a new approach.

With a deep breath I imagined my body covered with light. In my mind magic had a glow to it and an array of colors; veins spidered all over my body; brighter in my arms, and all of them came together where my spine would be to make a solid white light.

To me the light would be pulsating. Different shades of colored light constantly moving against each other. The image made my body look like it was a beacon, giving off every hue of color known to mankind. I took that image and did what I believed to be the inner search to my body.

This time I didn't focus on my mind or my stomach. I tried to get a feel of every inch of my body. Close to an hour later I felt my back start to get warm. At first I brushed it off as the heat in the room, but it steadily started getting warmer to the point I realized it wasn't my back, but my actual spine.

I squeezed my eyes closed, determined not to open them. My spine was where I thought the magical core would originate, and now with mine heating up I felt a lot more confident.

The heat slowly started spreading up across my shoulders and down my thighs. I imagined helping the heat further across my body. It pushed the warmth even quicker until I could feel it in my toes, the tips of my fingers, and the roots of my hair. Without opening my eyes I reveled in the sensation that reminded me of a full body hug.

Taking another deep breath I focused on my spine where my magical core would be. I did what would be considered "digging" into the light until a blinding purple flash seared my eyes. My eyes snapped open in surprise, and I sucked in a shocked breath.

At first I didn't notice anything different, but then I realized everything had a muted glow to it. I looked around confusedly, but when my eyes look down I let out a strangled gasp.

I saw veins running all over my arms. They weren't veins of blood underneath the skin, these flowed on the surface of my skin in varying shades of lilac purple. I moved my legs, enjoying the sensation of stretching their muscles after sitting in one position for so long. Reaching to the hem of my skirt I moved it up to get a better look.

Just like my arm the purple veins webbed all over my skin. They gave off a slight glow, and I dragged my finger down one to see what would happen. I watched in fascination as the colors in the touching veins seemed to move much quicker than they had before.

Standing up I mentally asked the Room to change. The left side of the room shrunk closer and a four-poster bed appeared. My trunk sat at the very end of it.

I moved towards the trunk, and opened it to take out a sleeveless t-shirt and some yoga shorts. I took off the clothes I wore and dropped them on the floor.

Without the restriction of clothing I could see my entire body. My arms and legs hadn't been the only parts affected by whatever I accomplished. Requesting a full-body mirror for easier examination, I looked at my face to confirm not a single part of my body went untouched by the glowing purple veins.

I didn't understand what happened. The person who wrote the diary never mentioned anything like this happening. They said they became more in tune with their magic and the magic around them, but nothing about seeing it.

Reaching for my wand I wrapped my hand around the hilt. The second it touched my skin the veins brightened. The purple colors began swirling around my body even faster. It sang through my body, and I closed my eyes in bliss. I stood there for a few seconds before continuing my objective.

The Room provided me with a table holding a white feather. Pointing my wand at the feather I said clearly, "Wingardium Leviosa."

I watched the veins pulse before the purple surged through them. I could even feel a tingling as it collected in my right hand then transferred itself into my wand. The feather flew quickly into the air. Much quicker than it ever had in the past. Next I transfigured the feather into a needle. When I picked it up it was shiny silver with sharp tips, just like a normal needle.

Cutting off the spell I moved towards the bed and set down my wand. The glow of the veins immediately died down a little, but not completely, and the purple didn't move as quickly.

It slowly registered in my mind what I saw was my magic. Whatever that exercise did allowed me to see my magic and the way it flowed throughout my body.

The mirror disappeared as I slowly pulled on my shorts. As I pulled the shirt over my head I started to worry. If I could see the purple veins, then there was the possibility of everyone else seeing them as well. I might not have started seeing magic, so much as made it visible to everyone.

I kept to myself for nearly two years while at Hogwarts. I didn't want to go through the remaining five years with people staring at me for something I did on accident. So long as other people couldn't see my magic I would be able to handle it. Otherwise I would have to learn how to use glamour charms.

With a disgruntled sigh I situated myself in bed. As soon as I got comfortable the fireplace went out. The ceiling immediately changed to reveal the starry sky – the same effect used in the Great Hall.

Furrowing my eyebrows I looked down and sighed. Even in the dark I could make out the purple glow. I held my hand up in front of my face and moved it around. With a tired sigh I dropped my arm. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, hoping against hope I would be the only person able to see the magic traveling over my body.