The man who can keep a secret may be wise,

But he is not half as wise as the man with no secrets to keep

Monday, March 19, 1973

Library corridor, first floor, Training Grounds Tower, Hogwarts

Eleonore sighed, staring at her Herbology assignment. Her essay on fluxweed wasn't as simple as she thought it would be. She knew the plant was a member of the mustard family and it had healing abilities but that was about it. She had one page and couldn't seem to bring herself to write out more, even though she had to hand in six full pages.

She tiredly rubbed her eyes. God, it was only Monday. The weekend had gone so fast. There had been a Quidditch match this weekend, resulting in the loss of the Gryffindors against the Ravenclaws. Everybody was a little dull, even James Potter wasn't his cheery self.

"Hey Ellie." Remus smiled, placing himself on his usual seat next to his classmate.

"Remus." Eleonore smiled gratefully, happy to have some company. The library was quite vacated since it was only Monday. "How are you?"

"I'm alright. Herbology?" He pointed at the parchment laying in front of her.

"Unfortunately, yes. The Fluxweed assignment. It's not coming along like I want it to." Her eyes scanned the words in front of her. "I can't seem to write more on it."

"I've actually finished it this weekend. Do you want to overlook mine?" Remus suggested, taking out his books.

"Ah no, I don't want to copy yours, I should be able to finish this myself." She mumbled, her hint of pride taking over. She was usually quite good in Herbology, she didn't understand why her mind wasn't set on it.

"What do you have already? Maybe I can help you think of more things to write about." He kindly suggested.

"Just that it's part of the mustard family and the healing abilities." She muttered, leaning her head on her arms that were lying on top of the library table. "I should be able to think of more, I can't see why it doesn't come up."

"Have you thought of the potions it's used in?"

Her eyes turned towards Remus, "I can't even believe I skipped that part. It's so obvious. Of course. Potions. I seem out of it." Ellie shook her head, straightening her legs to find a potions book in the nearest row.

"Try Polyjuice, you can find a lot about it in there." Remus answered loudly, looking at Ellie's eyes scanning the books not far away from their table.

"You're a genius." Ellie grinned, her eyes shifted towards his kind smile. She finally found the book she was searching for and took it out of the shelf. Sitting back down, she opened it, her eyes scanning the page in front of her. "Are you sure you're alright, Remus?" She mumbled, silently reading the words in front of her, she could feel his eyes staring at the side of her face.

"I just- I, yes I'm alright." He mumbled, taking an empty parchment out of his bag.

"You know you can talk to me." She kindly smiled, finally adverting her eyes towards the young man sitting next to her.

"Yes, I know that."

"Okay then." She scanned his face uncertainly before turning her eyes back onto her parchment. "How are things- you know, with the boys?" Ellie mumbled, trying to speak as silently as possible. She now knew that James, Peter and Sirius were aware of his lycantrophy.

"They're fine. I thought it would be worse." He silently replied, dipping his quill into some ink.

"I told you they would accept it. They seem to be really supportive." Ellie smiled, turning towards Remus.

"Ye-yes, they have been." Remus did not want Eleonore to know of their secret plans and he had made them promise they would not tell her of their little animagus plan. James and Sirius didn't have any problems with that, it was only Peter who seemed to have a little trouble. Remus could understand, the boy was not good in transfiguration and he always had the help of Eleonore. It was only now that he actually had to do something so big without her help.

Remus couldn't help but feel bad. Keeping things secret from Eleonore wasn't what he intended to do but he had no choice.

He knew her well enough to know that if she would hear of their plans, she would want to be a part of it. Remus knew she would be darn good at it as well. Ellie had top grades in transfiguration, he was certain she would be the first one to actually accomplish anything.

He wondered what she would be… Probably a lioness, a cheetah or even a leopard… He could definitely see her as one. An animal very loyal but fierce. Something big with pride in the almond shaped green eyes.

But he would not let her.

Her becoming an animagus would mean her seeing him transform. She would hear his bones crack, hear him scream in agony. She would again, feel sorry for him. He did not want her to feel sorry for him. He did not want to bring her any danger.

A part of him was scared on how the werewolf would react. He would smell her, he would know it was her and it terrified him immensely. What if the wolf jumped on her? Now that he hit his puberty, the wolf was right there with him. Oh god, what if the wolf actually forcedly mated her? She would never be able to defend herself.

What if it bit her?

A look of horror crossed his features. It wasn't happening. He would not let her.

"Remus?" Eleonore looked up in concern.

"What?" He shook his head, locking his own green eyes with hers.

"I just asked you three times if you knew how many scruples of fluxweed are needed for the polyjuice potion… Are you alright?"

"Yes. Yes. I'm fine. Sixteen, you would need sixteen, picked at full moon." Remus answered, giving an encouraging smile.

"Thank you." She smiled a little oddly at him, ignoring his strange behavior. She was certain he would tell her what's on his mind when he was ready.

Saturday, April 5th, 1973

Gryffindor Common Room, Gryffindor Tower, Hogwarts

"So-" Marlene nibbled on a chocolate biscuit, her legs thrown over the red sofa stretched in front of the fire. "Has anyone noticed that David Hamblin has turned a lot hotter since he dumped Angela Rimprey?"

"Marlene!" Lily shot, her eyes widening.

"What? It's true." The blonde shrugged, eyeing all the girls. "Come on, don't be so prude. I know we all have a small crush on him. He's Quidditch captain."

"I honestly didn't even know he had a girlfriend to begin with." Eleonore shrugged, observing Marlene.

"She was a Ravenclaw and of course you wouldn't." Christina smirked, knowing with everyone was thinking.

"Don't start this again." Ellie pointed her finger in the air warningly. "And David is a fourth year."

"Yeah, so? In a couple of months we're third years and he's a fifth year. And the year after we're fourth years and he's a sixth year. It's only two years apart."

Ellie rolled her eyes at the blonde, "I cannot even believe you are thinking about going there."

"Like you haven't." Marlene smirked at Eleonore.

"I have not, thank you very much." Ellie argued, trying to hold back a grin and silently shifting her eyes at Lily. "But Lils has."

"What?!" Lily shrieked, looking a little shocked at her friend. "I have not!"

"Oh come on! Yes you have!" Ellie giggled, holding out her hand in front of her mouth.

"You have?" Christina spoke with interest.

"Oh! Another admirer!" Eleonore laughed, throwing her head back. She hastily avoided the cookie being thrown at her head by Christina. "Oi! Don't throw the chocolate cookies! They're very valuable!"

"If Remus was here, he'd be visually upset." Alice spoke, laughing. "Where are the boys anyways? I only see Frank."

"That's because you always, only see Frank." Marlene smirked, also ducking for a flying cookie.

"I do not." Alice spoke, her cheeks reddened.

"They do seem very secretive lately, don't they?" Lily spoke, turning the conversation from Longbottom towards the other classmates. "Always running off after class."

"Is that even a surprise? They're always somewhere causing mayhem." Christina butted in, nodding her head. "Last week they got detention because they made Filch his cat bark."

"They did?!" Ellie spoke with surprise. "How come I didn't see that? I wanted to see that!"

"You'd almost say it is plagiarism." Lily smirked, looking at her friend, knowing that making the cat bark was her idea in the first place. "It was actually Ellie's idea to make the cat bark."

"It was?" Christina spoke, "That's genius! You're almost like a puppet master, you get the idea, throw it out there and make them do it. Plus, you don't have to face the consequences. How do you do it anyways?"

"One is hopelessly in love with her, the other has a crush and another one is practically her brother and well Sirius, he does kind of look up to her but doesn't want to recognize it." Marlene pointed out.

"That's disgusting Marlene." Ellie replied, rolling her eyes.

"Disgusting, but the truth."

"Remus is no-" Eleonore wanted to argue when she noticed the portrait opening to reveal the four devils themselves.

"Remus is what?" James grinned, looking at the five girls hanging out in front of the fire.

"Nothing." Ellie mumbled, adverting her eyes from James his enthusiastic stare. "Where were you guys off to anyways?"

"Just… Homework." Sirius shrugged, the twinkle in his eye telling the girls how much of a lie that was.

"Throwing water balloons at Filch is not homework." Christina pointed it, shifting a little in the big sofa when she noticed him walking towards her with a mischief glint in his eye.

Sirius managed to walk over to it and sat himself in the middle next to Ellie and Christina, a big grin plastered on his face. "Now, now girls. You should always know that us four, we always have a reason for the things we do."

Sirius threw his arms around Christina and Ellie's neck, a content grin upon his face. "Don't touch me, Black." Ellie spoke, immediately pushing his arm away. She noticed James trying to take a seat on the floor next to Lily, but when he finally spotted her glare, he swiftly sat himself next to Marlene.

"What would be the reason for throwing water balloons at Filch his face, then?" Lily questioned, her eyebrows raised.

"IF we were throwing water balloons at him, it would have been for his poor taste in clothing." Sirius pointed out, counting on his fingers.

"The bad eyebrows." James continued.

"The way his cat barks." Remus grinned, placing himself on the bannister of the sofa next to Ellie. He couldn't help but notice the way she held back a grin at him, playfully rolling her eyes.

"That godawful smell of him." Peter spoke, pointing his finger in the air.

"Yeah, yeah- We get it." Christina brushing her hand at the boys.

"Anyways, what were you girls talking about anyways?" James spoke, looking at his classmates.

"Not that it's any of your business, but we were actually talking about David Hamblin." Marlene spoke, quietly observing James and Remus their expressions. "Lily and Ellie were just telling me how handsome he is."

"We did not." Lily crossed her arms, a blush erupting on her face.

"What?" Remus spoke, "You think Hamblin is handsome?"

"Well- I,"

Ellie wanted to answer but Lily interrupted the conversation, also noticing Remus his troubled expression. She finally understood what Marlene was trying to do. "Every girl thinks David is handsome. He asked Ellie personally to join the Quidditch Team next year, isn't that right Ellie?"

"He did?" James lifted his eyebrows at Eleonore. "How come I don't know anything about this?"

"Because, in contrary to what you believe, the world does not revolve around you, Potter." Lily shot rapidly.

"You're overreacting, Lily. He did not 'personally' ask me." Ellie spoke, ignoring the stares of everyone including Remus and Peter.

"He did. He asked you when we were going to the Slugclub, he asked you again the next week when we were walking towards Charms."

"That's because you bragged about my flying abilities." Ellie shot back.

"It's not my fault you're good on a broom. It's not my fault Hamblin wants to see you on the team." Lily's eyes carefully adverted towards Remus who seemed to be awfully quiet all the sudden. "If you ask me, I think he actually has a soft spot for you."

"I'm going to ignore the last thing you said. Plus, I'm not even sure if I want to join the team next year." Ellie argued.

"Why not? You'd be perfect." James smiled at her, "Sirius said he'd try out for the team as well."

"Why are you even asking me why I don't want to join the team when you just summed up the perfect reason two seconds after your question." Ellie glared at James.

"Aw, come on Darensbourg, we'll have fun. You and me, flying up in the sky, gazing at the stars." Sirius spoke, sighing dramatically.

"The only stars you would get to see are the ones caused by the quaffle I would throw at your head."

"Such a romantic soul." He grinned, putting his hand upon his chest.

Ellie couldn't help but throw a chocolate cookie at Sirius his head, ignoring the horror stretched upon Remus his face.

Wednesday, May 30th, 1973

The Room of Requirement, Seventh Floor, Hogwarts

"Moony! What do you think?" Sirius spoke, concentrating on the brick wall in front of him. He could feel himself shrink, hair sprouting out of his skin, his nose growing.

Remus couldn't help but laugh, looking at his friend. "I honestly think you'll become a dog. A shabby one none the less."

Sirius shook his head, transforming back to his normal self. "Keeping that damn mandrake leaf in my mouth the entire month was honestly the hardest part. How far are we with the potion anyways?" He questioned, looking at James.

"It's almost ready to drink. We have to wait another two days. I have to scoop it in glasses and then it has to rest until Friday night. We'll have to do the incantation during the summer though. I think we should be good the transform fully by September, if we practice enough that is." James answered, looking at the bubbling potion in front of him. "It would be easier if Ellie would be here to help us though." The boy eyed Peter who still had trouble with his whiskers.

"We've discussed this before, James." Remus spoke. "I would only allow you guys to do it if none of you would speak to Ellie about this."

"Why is it such a big deal if she joins or not?" James spoke, scooping up the potion and putting it in a glass.

"Because." Remus his cheeks reddened. "I don't want her to see me as the wolf. I don't like it."

Sirius raised his eyebrows at his friend, "You know she'll be angry she wasn't a part of this in the first place, right?"

"Then let her be angry, if it means she's safe, she can be angry." The werewolf mumbled, ignoring the way his friends were looking at him.

"So she can be safe but we can risk our lives?" James grinned, teasing his friend.

"It's different." Remus shot back, eyeing the green potion resting in the glasses. "I don't want anything to happen to you guys either."

"Of course it's different." Sirius smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Remus questioned, looking at his friend in challenge.

"Come on, Remus. We've all noticed it." James grinned, "It's getting a little obvious."

"I have no idea what you're on about." The boy stuttered, "Shouldn't you keep practicing?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Peter spoke a little confused, looking at all three of them.

Sirius couldn't help but roll his eyes at the ignorance of his chubby friend, "Remus is hopelessly in love with Darensbourg."

"I am not." Remus argued, frantically looking at his friends.

"Yeah." James chuckled, "Put one hand in the air and the other in your pants and repeat that once again."

"You are?" Peter spoke with worry, biting his cheek.

"He is." Sirius shrugged.

"I am not!" The werewolf argued once again.

"You've had a crush on her since our first year!" James spoke, "That best friend motive is getting a little old, Remus. It's fine, if we're talking secrets, I am honestly developing quite a crush on Evans. She just so beautiful."

"That's old news too, James." Sirius rolled his eyes at his best friend.

"It is?" Peter still looked a little confused.

"Evans nearly hates you as much as Darensbourg hates me. Good luck with that." Sirius chuckled, "I can't even believe we are talking about girls right now. I am in all honesty not looking for a girlfriend whatsoever."

For once, Remus was glad for Sirius his ability to change the subject. He had come to realize in these past months, in the way he was so invested in protecting Eleonore, that maybe, just maybe, James and Sirius were speaking the truth.

"Are you going to tell Ellie?" Peter questioned, looking at Remus. So much for changing the subject.

"No!" Remus looked at his friends with a look of determination on his face. "Of course not, she's my friend. I don't want to jeopardize our friendship."

"So you admit it, you like Darensbourg?" Sirius shot, a teasing grin on his face.

"I-I ju-just, I don't know. Maybe I do, maybe it's because she's always there, I don't know."

"Do you get nervous when she's around?" James questioned, ignoring the odd look Sirius was giving him. "Do you sometimes stare at her and think, god, what a wonderful creature." The boy with the glasses spoke, dreamily sighing.

"Have you lost your mind?" Sirius questioned, "Are we talking about Darensbourg or Evans here?"

Remus interrupted the hard glance James was giving his best friend, "Look, it doesn't matter. In a month, school's out, I will just give it a rest. It's been a hard year. She found out about the werewolf thing, maybe that's why I suddenly feel different. I'm sure if I let it rest, everything will be over by September."

James couldn't help but grin, shaking his head at his friend. "Of course, everything will be over by September. That's a good way of dealing with your feelings, Remus, by ignoring them."

"I don't want to risk our friendship, I told you this before." Remus mumbled, "And it's not like she'll have me anyways."

"You're kidding, right?" Sirius raised his eyebrows at his friend. "If you think that than you're delusional."

"Ellie doesn't see me the way I see her." He stated.

"She sits with you after every transformation. You guys have fridaynight study sessions for godssake, you even have your own spot at the library! Once I heard Marlene talking about how your hair looked a little weird and Ellie threatened to hex her! Because she thought your hair looked marvelous, for crying out loud! Have you looked at your hair?!" Sirius argued, his hand pointing at Remus his head.

"What's wrong with my hair?" Remus looked a little confused at James, who just shrugged.

"This isn't even about the hair, Remus! It looks good but not that good that she has to threaten someone over it. Darensbourg likes you. Open your eyes! I'm done with all this girl talk. I need male talk." Sirius huffed, looking at his three friends and then turning around to practice even more.

"Seriously, what's wrong with my hair though?" Remus mumbled towards James and Peter.

"Maybe it's just because he cares about his so much." James shrugged. "I don't really know why he got so heated."

Wednesday, June 13th , 1973

Gryffindor Common Room, Gryffindor Tower

"Are you going to be alright for your exams? With the full moon?" Ellie mumbled as silently as possible.

She knew full moon was the weekend of the 15th and 16th of June, right before the week of their exams. She hoped Remus would manage to pull through it but couldn't help but be concerned.

"Madam Pomfrey said she'd give me some pepper up potions after the weekend." Remus answered quietly trying to focus on the game of wizard's chess they were playing.

"Knight to E5" Ellie spoke clearly, slowly nodding her head. She watched how the white knight moved forward, kicking Remus his pawn off the board. "Just tell me if you need my help, alright?"

"I will. Are you ready for the summer?" Remus smiled, "Bishop to D2"

Ellie watched how her rook got smashed against the board. "Yeah, Lily's already coming over in July, I'm quite excited."

"Should be fun, right?" He smiled with encouragement.

"Yeah. Queen to B5. Checkmate." Ellie grinned, watching how surprise took over Remus his features.

"Cheeky, very cheeky." He shook his head at her.

"Cheeky is my middle name after all." Eleonore raised her eyebrows at the boy, holding back laughter. "Anyways, have you decided on you elective subjects for next year?"

"Not all of them no, but I think I'm certain about Arithmancy. You?"

"I was actually hoping you would take that since none of the girls want to do it and I don't want to be alone in that class." Eleonore spoke brightly. "Are any of the guys doing it?"

"No, they're not. They think numbers are quite boring so I'm glad you've decided on that."

"I want to do Muggle Studies as well, it seems quite interesting. Divination seems a whole bunch of crap if you ask me. Care of Magical Creatures seems fun too." She slowly nodded her head, "Ancient Runes is interesting as well but I think four would be too much."

"Yeah, maybe three will be plenty."

"What are you taking?"

"I was actually thinking about taking Ancient Runes instead of Muggle Studies. I don't think Divination is my thing either." Remus shrugged, "We still have a week to submit our choices anyways, I'll think about it."

"Yeah, I'm actually really considering to try out for the Quidditch team next year so I won't have time to take them all, unfortunately."

"Really? As a chaser then?" Remus questioned in interest. He knew she was a good flyer so this didn't come as a surprise. Eleonore was quite athletic. "Even if Sirius tries out for the Beater place?"

"Ah well, Black annoys me but he's getting easier to handle. I'm sure it will be fine."

"Oh wow, did I actually hear this well? Eleonore Darensbourg telling me that Sirius isn't all that bad? Are you sick? Do you want me to bring you to the hospital wing?" Remus teasingly spoke, eyeing her green eyes over the table.

"I feel fine, Remus Lupin. I just beat your ass at Wizard's Chess, I feel perfect even." She grinned, sticking out her tongue at the boy.

"Then a miracle must have happened." He laughed with his hands on his stomach.

"Maybe. Maybe I'm just in a cheery mood because summer's around the corner." She spoke.

"Ah well, you'll write me, right?" He smiled, turning his face back to serious.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" She looked at him a little confused. "Are you going to Scotland once again?"

"No, no, we're staying in Wales this summer."

"Good, then I can use the first address you gave me, right?" Ellie questioned.

"Yeah, you can use the first address." He nodded his head, his face turning serious.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" She pointed her finger in his face, a squint in her eyes.

"Like what?" He acted dumbfound, a silly smile still upon his lips.

"Like this." She tried to reenact his expression from a few seconds earlier. Her eyes turning serious, scanning his face.

She watched how Remus threw back his head in laughter at her expression, shaking his head in reply. "I did not look at you like that."

"Yes you did!" She cheekily grinned, "Admit it. Why were you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing, I just- Well, I guess I'll miss you over the summer, that's all." He sweetly smiled at her, "I feel like this year has been really good, you know for our- our friendship. You supporting me, I owe you a lot."

"You owe me nothing. Except more than a dozen letters this summer." Ellie smirked.

"Alright, alright." He nodded his head at her, a held back beam plastered on his face. "I'll try to write a lot."

"A lot, a lot?" She raised her eyebrow at him in challenge.

"A lot, a lot." He confirmed.

"Good." She bobbed her head in agreement. Ellie scraped her stool back, standing up straight. "I should actually check on Lils, she wanted to talk to me about something. Good game, though."

"You only say that because you won." Remus grinned.

"Maybe." She shrugged with teasing eyes, walking towards the dorms' staircase. "Hey, Remus."

"Yeah?"

"I'll miss you too, you know." Ellie smiled, looking over her shoulder. She didn't wait around to see the blush attain his cheeks.

Friday, June 29th , 1973

Hogsmeade Station, Hogsmeade, Hogswarts Express

Ellie placed the empty cage underneath the small train table. Archimedes decided to be a little stubborn. He did not want to go in his cage when she wanted to collect him from the owlery. She told him to figure it out himself and that she would expect him at Freefolk House for the summer.

"Are you still a little mad at Archimedes?" Lily questioned, noticing the small scowl on Ellie's face when she placed the empty cage in the compartment.

"He's just being stubborn. He'll be back home tomorrow, hopefully." Ellie answered, placing herself on the seat closest to the window.

"Of course. You know he can't go a day without treats." The red head smiled, sitting across from Eleonore. "I can't believe another year has passed. Can you believe we're third years after the summer?"

"Before we know it, we'll be graduated." Ellie smirked, "I wonder how that will be."

"I don't even want to think about it yet." Lily muttered. "Where are the girls anyways?"

"Christina and Marlene were right behind us when we entered the train. I think saw Alice with Frank." Eleonore answered, a little confused.

"Maybe we lost them in the rush." Lily spoke, "So I'll see you in two weeks, right?"

"Yep. Do you want to race the Nimbus this year?" Ellie grinned, knowing how Lily refused to ride to remarkable broom last year.

"No. You know I don't like brooms."

"Ah well, it's your loss, really. Will you at least let Minnie braid your hair?"

"If you promise me you won't let her scare Tuney when we arrive." Lily raised her eyebrows at her best friend, holding back a grin.

"Oh come on, Lils! That's the fun part!" Ellie cheekily spoke, "Your sister's horrible. She treats you with such disrespect, I can't even believe you still defend her."

"She's my sister, I will always defend her. She's just… A little troubled with herself."

"You always see the best in people."

"And you always see the worst." Lily pointed out.

"It's so I won't get disappointed in the end." Ellie grinned, "If you think the worst, you'll always get something better in return."

"When you always expect the worst, you can never experience the best." Lily teased back.

"Maybe. You got me on that one. Maybe you can teach me, you know, to see the best in people. I'd like that." Eleonore nodded her head.

"Yeah." Lily nodded her head along, a smile upon her face. "I'll try to teach you that. It's important."

"God, why are we so sentimental?" Ellie scrunched up her nose, looking at Lily laughing.

"Hormones." Lily shrugged her shoulders, "So about David Hamblin…"

Author's note: Right, I have given you a little insight of Remus his feelings towards Ellie becoming an animagus. I had quite a lot of reactions that she does have the personality to actually stand her ground and be one if it means she can protect Remus. It's actually really delightful how good you know my main character, and it's a compliment because it means I bring her character over in the very right way I always wanted to do. Anyways thank you Morietachibana for the lovely review, thank you 19irene96 for the review! Third year is finally here, I can allow myself to take things further since they are real teenagers now. GOODBYE FRIENDSHIP, HELLO DRAMA AND ROMANCE. I have waited for this. Leave me a little review, aight? Think about some animals Ellie would turn into if she were to be an animagus.