The morning after the full moon, I laughed out loud, so loudly that I had to clap my hand over my mouth to silence myself so none of the muggles who lived in the apartment building could hear me.

The thing I was laughing at was my own stupidity, because I'd spent so long worrying about my first full moon as an adult wizard, but it had gone exactly the same as any other full moon, the only difference was that I had hurt myself because I'd been alone.

I laughed as quietly as I could to myself, then let out a long sigh of relief as I grabbed a mop that was in the basement and used it to clean any traces that a werewolf transformation had taken place in this basement.

When I told my parents that it had been completely normal, they both smiled a smile that said both 'that's great' and 'I told you so' at the same time.

"And Remus..." said my dad. "You got a letter this morning. From... Sirius."

"Oh, OK," I said, feeling my face heat. "Thank you."

I walked to the kitchen bench where an envelope addressed to me was. I grabbed it and brought it to my room. I knew my parents respected my privacy and my relationship, but I still didn't want to read a letter from my boyfriend in front of them.

I opened the letter with a smile on my face when my bedroom door was closed. I pulled the parchment out of the envelope, and looked at his beautiful, fancy handwriting before I began to read it.

Dear Moony,

I just wanted to check in with you, because I know you'd been scared about last night for a while since it was your first full moon as an adult. I just wanted to check in with you and see how you're going afterwards? Was it as you thought it was going to be? Do you think you're more dangerous now that you're an adult?

If that's the case, I don't want you to think that that is going to change how I see you in the slightest. Don't you dare think it's going to take away from your kind nature as Remus John Lupin, the boy who I will proudly call my love. How your transformations go don't define you. And I hope you're OK with how this one went.

Love Padfoot

If I was a girl, that would have been a perfectly acceptable time to cry because of how much of a sweet romantic he was. But I wasn't a girl, so I just smiled at how sweet he was, before proceeding to feel bad with myself because I couldn't recall any time where I'd written Sirius a long, sweet letter.

Not even when he was being abused, not even when he ran away from that abuse. Was I a horrible person because of this? Had Sirius still written me a nice letter even though I'd never written him one.

I was overthinking this, like I overthought everything. Sirius was just more of a romantic person than me. That was OK, right? But then again, if I wasn't a very romantic person, why was I in a relationship? Was I really that selfish?

My thoughts were interrupted when my dad knocked on my door and opened it. I folded the letter and looked up at him when I heard the door open.

"Um, hey, Dad," I said.

"Hey," said my dad. "We need to go to the Ministry."

I looked at him blankly for a second. "We as in you and Mum, or... we as in me included."

"Remus, Mum has never been to the Ministry, and she's only allowed there in an emergency," said Dad.

"Right, OK," I said. "Er, do we go now?"

"Yeah," said Dad. "Put on some shoes and change into maybe something other than what you were wearing last night."

"Alright."

"Meet me by the fireplace in five minutes?"

"Yeah, OK," I said, and he closed the door. I turned Sirius's letter over and wrote a quick response.

Thank you so much. Full moon went completely fine. You're the best person ever. I love you. Sorry for such a short response, but I've got to go.

Moony

Feeling awful because of my pathetic response, I got changed, then tucked that letter into my pocket as I walked out of my room and to the fireplace.

"Why do I need to go to the Ministry?" I asked, but my dad was already placing Floo powder into my hand and was stepping into the fireplace himself. I sighed after he left, then stepped in myself. "The Ministry of Magic."

When we were in the ministry, I tried again to ask my dad why we were here, but he just shrugged and said he didn't know.

"What part are we going to, then?" I asked.

He hesitated before telling me, "The containment of magical creatures."

Of course, I thought bluntly. Where else?

I remained silent for the rest of the walk to the containment of magical creatures department. It was a different person to the man who'd forced me to register. This time, it was a woman who could only be ten years older than me at most. Her expression was hard to read, so I had no idea what was in for me here.

"Lyall," she said when we came in. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"What?" said my dad, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Why?"

"Remus is no longer underage," said the woman. "He does not need a parent or guardian to accompany him."

"Doesn't need me, OK, but why can't I still stay?" my dad asked.

"Please leave, Lyall," the woman said, her voice cold. "You are not allowed in here with your son, unless you want to lose your job?"

"Fine," said my dad, removing his hand from my shoulder. "I'll be right outside if you need me, Remus."

He left, and I faced the woman alone, unsure of what to say or do without my father by my side. God, I was pathetic.

"So, Remus," she said, coming down from the higher seat to my level. "My name is Morgause Selwyn. I've noticed that you have recently been registered as a werewolf, and I'd like to ask you some questions."

"Er, OK," I said. Questions wasn't what I had expected, although I didn't know what I had expected.

"So, Remus, when exactly did you receive the bite?"

"Uh, February 1965," I said.

"Oh, so you must have just been small at the time?" she said, with a somewhat sympathetic look on her face.

"Yeah, it was a little before I turned five," I said. What was the point of this?

"So, you must be attending Hogwarts, yes? What year are you in?" she asked.

"Sixth year."

"Oh, sixth year," she sighed. "Holds a special place in my heart. I began going out with my husband when I was in sixth year. Do you have a special someone?"

"Um... why are you asking this?" I asked.

"Well, if there is a special someone, they could be at risk," she said.

"Oh, well, there is someone, but we don't have sex," I said.

"Do you mind telling me her name?" Morgause asked.

"Um... why?"

"Just so we can check in with her and make sure she's alright," said Morgause.

"It's... it's..." I felt my throat go dry. "Dorcas Meadowes."

Morgause laughed. "Why do you lie, Remus? Isn't Dorcas Meadowes one of those girls who were caught kissing each other?"

"I... uh..." I fidgeted. I should have just said that I didn't have a partner. But I hadn't expected her to ask who it was when I'd said I had one. But I had to say someone now. "OK. Sorry for lying. Do you promise you'll be nice to her?"

Morgause nodded, then I said, "It's Lily Evans."

"Alright. We'll bring her in."

"Now?" I said, my eyes widening, but Morgause was already sending an owl asking for Lily to come here. God dammit. I'd only said Dorcas because she knew about Sirius and I and I knew she'd cover for me, and I'd only said Lily because she knew I was a werewolf, but she wouldn't know why I'd lied.

Not even ten minutes later, Lily was being escorted into the room, her expression filled with confusion.

"Thank you for coming here on such short notice, Lily," said Morgause. "I have a few questions around your relationship with Remus here."

Lily looked at me suddenly, and I sent her a silent plea to just play along.

"Oh, um... yeah, sure," said Lily.

"Are you aware of what he is?" Morgause asked.

"Er... how so?" Lily asked.

"You know... his condition?"

Lily looked at me again, I gave a small nod, and she looked back at Morgause. "Yeah. Yeah, I know."

"Right. Do you ever feel like you're in danger when you're around him... especially when you're physically close to each other?"

"No, I don't," said Lily. "We're prefects together, so we spend a lot of nights patrolling the school, just the two of us. With the corridors dark and empty, Remus could easily take advantage of me, he's a lot taller than I am... but he never has, and I've never worried that he might."

"Why would your own boyfriend take advantage of you?" Morgause asked.

"Like I said, I don't think he would," said Lily. "But you know what some men can be like."

"I don't mean do you feel in danger around Remus because he's a man, I mean do you feel in danger around him because he's a werewolf," Morgause said, her voice turning slightly impatient.

"Because he's a werewolf?" Lily repeated. "No. As long as I'm not around him during a full moon, I feel completely fine. Why is any of this important?"

"We just want to make sure you're OK with Remus as your significant other," said Morgause.

"Well, I'm perfectly fine, and I'm also supposed to be helping my sister go wedding dress shopping," said Lily. "So may we go now?"

"Right," said Morgause. "OK, you may both go. But first... Lily, can I ask you one more question?"

"Yeah?"

"You are muggle-born, aren't you?"

"Yes," Lily said stiffly. "Why?"

Morgause wrote something down then gave the parchment to an owl that was perched beside her. It flew off just as she said, "No reason. You may go."

Lily and I exchanged a glance, then we both walked towards the door. But, just before my hand touched the doorknob, I heard a loud bang. I gasped, then turned to Lily. Blood was streaming from her temple, and she was crumpled on the floor.

Choking on my own breath, my eyes found Morgause, who was holding some weird metal thing that was now splattered with Lily's blood. Before I could say anything, it came down onto my head, and I lost consciousness before another thought could cross my mind.