"Rosabell!"

Startling at the use of my first name, I turned around to see Remus running towards me with a frantic look. I had been on my way to the library for our usual study time. Even though we didn't sit at the same table his presence was reassuring. He once told me I calmed his wolf. Right now he looked the complete opposite of calm.

"Remus?" My voice held concern. With it being Saturday I didn't have my Slytherin robes on, meaning the people in the corridor spared no more than a curious glance in our direction. "Are you alright?"

His hand wrapped around my bicep, and he began leading me insistently. "No."

I didn't actually need to ask. The answer was written all over his twitchy muscles and sweat-glossed forehead. "Alright, what's wrong?" It must've been pretty bad to confront me in broad daylight in the middle of the corridor. We always made our interactions discreet, so as not to raise suspicion.

"Not here," Remus hissed under his breath.

His panicky actions were starting to worry me. He continued to pull me along, and I was content to let him drag me. To my surprise somebody decided to stop us.

"Letting yourself be pulled around by a brutish Gryffindor, King?"

Hearing my last name made me stop in surprise. Remus came to a stop as well since he had a hold of my arm. When I spotted the boy who called me I smiled. "Hello, Regulus. How've you been?"

His eyes narrowed. "You should know better than to be seen hanging around his sort."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "A fourteen-year-old boy?"

"A Gryffindor." Regulus urged. "Letting one of them lead you around could be seen as a betrayal. They'll see it as you turning your back on your House."

"How can it be a betrayal when they never accepted me in the first place?" I asked incredulously. Bitterness filled my body, making the magic in my veins flow more quickly. "I am a Slytherin, but I'll never be accepted as one."

Regulus stiffened. "Despite your beliefs, King, you're a Slytherin."

"No," I said firmly, "I'm not. You know it, I know it, everybody in Slytherin knows it. I'm not accepted. Wearing a green and silver tie doesn't mean shit when my own housemate's are throwing cutting curses the moment I lock eyes with them. You know how they are."

Regulus glared coldly. "They won't accept you because you won't let them."

"They won't even give me a chance!" I hissed furiously. I yanked my arm out of Remus' hold to face Regulu head-on. "The first two days during my first year was all the time I had before I got this." Rolling up my sleeve revealed the rugged scar across my bicep. I then pointed to the other scar on my forearm. "This was from second year on the second morning back. Give me one reason why I should try accepting them."

For several moments Regulus stared at the marks on my arm. His expression was completely blank, making it hard to read him. Eventually he dipped his head and turned away. "Perhaps not all Slytherins." With that he began walking down the corridor until he was out of sight.

The grip on my arm returned, reminding me of Remus' presence. "Come on."

I let the hazel eyed boy pull me through corridors and up stairs until we reached the seventh floor. After our run-in with Regulus I kept my head down so my hair covered my face. While the other Houses didn't really recognize me it didn't mean other Slytherins wouldn't.

Tickling the pear we entered the Kitchens, and Remus sat me down at one of the tables before pacing. A goblet of water appeared, and I said a thank you to the room since I didn't know which elf did it.

"Mind telling me why you had to drag me all the way here?"

"They know."

I watched him walk back and forth with raised eyebrows. "Who knows what? I'm not a mind reader over here."

"James, Sirius, Peter: they know I'm a werewolf!" Remus continuously ran his hands through his hair.

The declaration wasn't surprising, but his reaction worried me. "How'd they find out?"

"They said they've been sneaking into the Hospital Wing for the last three full moons. Two of those times I used the excuse about being sick, so when I wasn't there it looked pretty suspicious. They cornered me today in our dorm room, asking questions I didn't have answers for, then Sirius outright accused me of being a wolf."

I hummed thoughtfully. "Did you tell them the truth?"

He grimaced. "I just told them I'd understand if they no longer want to be friends, and they'll barely have to see me."

"And?"

Remus gave me an odd look. "And nothing. I left so I could find you."

I groaned loudly and rubbed my eyes. "Remus! Why didn't you let them talk to you?"

He glared at me. "This isn't a normal situation, Rosabell. They're the first friends I've ever made and the closest – no offense."

I waved it off. "Like you said, they are your closest friends. There's no way they won't accept you."

"You didn't see Peter!" He shouted. "He was scared. Of me!" Remus dropped onto the bench beside me with a weary sigh. "How can I face them again?"

"With pride," I stated simply. "Yes, you're a werewolf, but your also a fourteen-year-old boy. You love to read, you get good grades, hate quidditch, and have an addiction to chocolate."

Remus huffed and looked off to the side. He stared blankly for a minute before pouting. "If anyone's addicted to chocolate it's you."

Out of everything he could've said, he chose to focus on the chocolate. It made me laugh. "Yeah, okay."

He sighed. "Do you think I overreacted?"

"I wouldn't say overreacted, but you did jump the gun by immediately assuming they wouldn't want anything to do with you. You should talk to them before dinner, so you'll know that you still have three wonderful friends."

Remus laughed at my statement but didn't reject it. He stood up from the bench with a heavy sigh. "I guess I'd better find them. I know we were going to study in the library today but…."

I smiled. "Don't worry about it, Remus. I think this is more important than homework."

He gave me a grateful smile and left the Kitchens. I stayed for a few more minutes to get rid of the slight anxiety the conversation gave me. Despite my confident attitude I felt worry for how the other Marauders would take his werewolf status. This was real life, I couldn't rely on information from movies I hadn't seen in years.

Even though Remus wasn't going to the library I didn't let it stop me. I had two essays I needed to finish up. I always did as much as I could Friday night before finishing it up Saturday afternoon.

While finishing up the last essay I saw movement in the corner of my eye. Looking up revealed none other then Peter Pettigrew perusing a nearby bookshelf. I watched his fidgeting form in surprise. Remus was the only Marauder to ever willingly come into the library.

Despite my apprehension I was curious. Deciding to abide by Regulus' comment about last names, I called out, "Pettigrew?"

He jumped in surprise and turned around. This was the first time I'd really gotten a good look at the Gryffindor prankster. He had short, tousled blonde hair and bright baby-blue eyes. He was a little below average height-wise and slightly overweight, but not overly so. "Um, yes?"

I smiled gently to try and make him relax. He had a tight grip on the strap of his school bag. It seemed surreal that such a shy boy could be one of the well known school pranksters. It made me wonder where the others were, and whether Remus found them or not.

"Sorry, I don't really need anything. I'm just surprised to see a Marauder come willingly into the library."

Peter blushed. "I'm looking for books."

I smirked. "I would assume so, considering you're in a library."

My reaction made him blush harder. His entire face became a nice shade of red. "Yes, well, you wouldn't happen to know where the magical creature section is, would you?"

The question made me suspicious for the real reason he entered the library. I had a hunch for what magical creature he wanted to read about. "They're over by the wall," I pointed down the aisle behind him. "It was nice meeting you."

He smiled shyly before scurrying over to the wall. I wondered how he would've reacted if he knew I was a Slytherin. From our interaction I could see he was naturally shy. As a Marauder he would be targeted by Slytherins, and out of the four Peter would be easiest to target. He just wasn't as strong as the others, and his countenance made him seem like easy prey.

As the end of the year came to a quick end I found my interactions with Remus lessening. We would still meet in the library, and I joined him on the full moon, but he didn't come to visit me in the Kitchens as often as he used to. From how happy he seemed during classes I figured it was because he was so relieved from his three friends accepting him that he was on a cloud of euphoria. Everything surrounding him faded away.

Remus' magic had a brighter glow whenever I saw him with the Marauders. It let me know how comfortable he was with his three friends. It helped soothe the ache he left when he didn't search me out. I thought no less of him for enjoying his time with his other friends now that they accepted his darkest secret, but I wondered how much I truly meant to him if he could forget me that easily.

Me knowing about his lycanthropy brought us closer together, and now that his closest friends knew we went back to only communicating through our journals. I couldn't deny the anger I felt, and the bitter taste it left in my mouth whenever I saw him happily laughing with the other Marauders.

Edited: 1/22/2019