AN: NOT a special, but enjoy..

Also, we updated TWO chapters today so be sure to read 16 first!


CHAPTER 17: A LOT OF IF'S

And meanwhile, back in the Gryffindor common room...


"Well?" said James, who was watching the boy in front of him intently.

Remus was standing with his back to the fireplace, facing his three best friends with an estranged expression.

"This was your emergency call, Moony," Sirius reminded him.

Remus nodded his understanding, but he could not yet find the words. Peter watched him with concern, waiting.

"Moony, what's going on?" Sirius asked, this time without a grin on his face.

Remus sighed.

"I think," he said, looking at each one of his friends, "I think we might have to tell Draco about my condition."

"No shit, Sherlock," said Sirius.

Remus frowned at him.

"What...?"

"We've been trying to get you to come around to the idea for like two months now," Sirius explained.

"But ultimately we decided it was your choice entirely," James said, giving Sirius a warning look.

Sirius shrugged and then nodded once at Remus. Remus stared at his friends.

"You...you guys all agree?"

"YE-AH!" they cried in unison.

"And you don't doubt him for a second?"

"You do?" said James, confused. He'd reckoned Remus was the only one among them who'd completely trusted Draco's intentions since the moment they'd met him.

"No," said Remus quickly. "I'm just wondering if any of you guys have any doubt..."

"We don't," said Peter. "He's done nothing but good things. For all of us."

James raised an eyebrow at him but then looked to Remus. "He's got a point, you know."

"I doubted him," Sirius blurted out.

Everyone turned their heads to look at him.

"I doubted there could be another decent human being in my bloodline," he clarified.

James nodded, and then looked up at Remus. "Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

"Huh?"

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

Remus swallowed and slowly sat back down. James always knew when there was something else going on. He could never hide it from him.

"I...can't really...explain it," Remus began, looking at all the marauders now. "But I feel so guilty about lying to him."

The boys all exchanged a look that Remus did not miss.

"What?" he said, impatiently.

"We feel the same way," James answered a moment later.

"Like...like it's a crime...lying to him," said Sirius.

"Like it's lying to Dumbledore's face," James added.

In a way, wasn't it the same thing? Wasn't Draco reporting everything about them to Dumbledore every weekend? James was sure he was.

"I know your theory," Remus said, his eyes on James. "But I seriously doubt Dumbledore sits around listening to Draco report on teenage angst and relationship issues."

James let out a laugh. "Yeah, I suppose not."

There was silence.

"So...what do you wanna do?" Sirius asked the room at large.

The boys all shifted in their seats.

"Well telling Draco wouldn't be like telling anyone else," Peter suggested. "He's not like Frank...or Lily..."

"What's wrong with Lily?" James shot at him, but before he could answer, Remus said, "Lily already knows, Pete, remember?"

"Oh," said Peter. "Right...sorry." James raised an eyebrow at him. "S-sometimes I forget...you know, 'cause she doesn't know about the animagus thing. So she only knows part of the truth."

Remus suddenly became very interested in his sleeve. Unfortunately though, the boys did not fail to notice.

"Remus?" said James.

When Remus looked up, James' expression grew more confused. But it was Sirius who voiced the question.

"What aren't you telling us?" he said.

Remus sighed. "She knows."

"Knows what?" said James, urgently.

"She knows you lot are animagi, Prongs," said Remus.

"You told her?!" cried Sirius. "Dude! We had a pact!"

"Oh shut up Padfoot," said James, turning back to Remus. "Moony, we had a pact."

Remus rolled his eyes and stood up from the couch again. "Guys, she figured out that there was another secret. I...I couldn't lie to her."

"Well why the hell not, I do it all the time!" said Sirius.

Remus smiled at him weakly.

"So I'm confused," said Peter. "Are we talking about telling Draco that Remus is a werewolf, or that we three are animagi?"

"Both," answered James.

When Sirius turned to look at him, he repeated "Both, Sirius."

"They are connected," Remus agreed, slowly.

"Is it a good idea though?" Peter whispered. "I mean...w-what if we're wrong?"

"We're not," declared James. The boys looked round at him. "He's not bad. I can feel it."

"You could feel that Filch was gonna be a wicked cool caretaker, and look how bloody well that worked out," said Sirius, rolling his eyes.

James laughed, but then he caught Remus' eye and grew serious again.

"What is it?" he asked his friend. "Why is it so hard for you to just tell him? I thought you liked the kid."

"I do," Remus whispered.

"Well then what's in the way?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, I mean even if he ended up freaking out, we could just explain it to him," said James. "Make him understand, you know?" He paused. "He'd understand."

"Only if we explained it right," Peter pointed out.

"And if Moony's in a good state," James said, jokingly.

"That's a lot of if's," Remus mumbled, again sitting down.

His eyes met Sirius', who now leaned forward to look at him.

"My birthday is in less than two weeks," he began. "You know we can't leave him behind to go on our annual hike under the moon."

Remus looked away from his friend.

"Yeah it wouldn't be right for us to ditch him on Sirius' birthday," James agreed.

"And it wouldn't be right for us not to do the hike this year," Peter added.

"Damn right," said Sirius.

Remus sighed. They were right. Of course they were right. But...

"Hey," said Sirius. Remus met his eyes. "What would happen if he found out about you?"

Remus tried to shrug it off, but Sirius put a hand on his shoulder and he looked at him.

"What would happen if he found out about you?" he repeated, more quietly.

Remus buried his face in his hands, having been afraid of this question, but even he knew all too well that his friends wouldn't let him out of this one. A few moments later, he looked up to find them all waiting for him to answer.

"He might start to fear me," he croaked.

"That's bullocks," said James, at once, who wasn't understanding at all. Didn't Remus get that if they told Draco, they wouldn't have to lie all the time? James was starting to have trouble keeping up with all the lies and he doubted Draco would ever be able to pull off such big lies. He'd probably be hurt that they'd kept this a secret from him, but it was better they told him now than later.

"It's rubbish, Remus," Sirius said.

"No, it's not," said Remus, shaking his head. "I was afraid of the same thing when it was you guys...when it was Lily."

"And look how it all ended up!" said Sirius. "None of us are afraid of you."

"But you should—"

"Remus, stop," said James. Remus looked at him. "You know that's not a problem. Not with us and certainly not with Draco."

"I don't know," Remus mumbled. He looked away from James and into the fireplace.

Draco's first two months at Hogwarts had been anything but normal. He'd experienced life in the spotlight firsthand, he got involved in a couple of arguments, and he was the talk of the school. Constantly a target. Knowing Remus' secret would probably be too much for him. He'd either be really upset that he hadn't known sooner, or really freaked out to even sleep in the same dormitory as the werewolf. Or worse...he'd tell his new Slytherin friends.

That was what could happen.

But then again, he had been hinting recently (and quite heavily too) that it was alright for Remus to be honest with him. And Peter and Lily had both said that Draco knew there was something the boys were not telling him, but that he didn't know what it was. The boys knew it was only a matter of time before he had to find out. Was this it then?


A/N: What do you guys think?