I woke curled up on the common room sofa, soft embers of last night's fire still glowing in the hearth. I wasn't cold, however, as I was snuggled up inside a large, burgundy jumper. Remus's jumper. I didn't remember walking back to the Tower this morning – the last thing I could recall was leaning back into clovers and pointing out the different constellations: Cygnus, Cassiopeia, Pegasus… I must have fallen asleep out there, which means – oh Merlin – Lupin must have carried me back to the common room! Of course he'd have the brains to get past the enchanted knocker: the hair-twizzling, makeup-overloading fourth years always talk about how he could easily have been Ravenclaw.

I checked my gold watch, the only thing of my father's I still own, and see that it's 6:30am. That explains how empty the common room is, we Ravenclaws enjoy a lie in on a Saturday. My mind is whirring like a broken car, trying to start, so I decide to go for a walk to clear my head. Merlin knows I have a lot to think about, like how I'm going to explain away my strong feelings on the injustices faced by werewolves. Perhaps I could say that I met one when I was younger, who was nice? Or maybe I could say I read an article about the realities of the affliction and found it to be very thought-provoking? Somehow, I'm not sure either of those would be very convincing.

Cool air blasts my hair into a frenzy around my face, and chills me through my coat and trousers. I stroll through the grounds and past Hagrid's hut until I reach the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and tiptoe in. I like the trees, and the nature that skirt the edges of the forest, and I ensure that I never go in too deep: I wouldn't want to be lost in here when night falls. Finding a tree with nice, low branches, I precariously clamber up until I've positioned myself in a nice v-shaped curve. From this height, I could see birds peeking out of nests, singing a morning song. I decide to join in, with an old Celtic song called 'The Parting Glass'. The melancholy tune carried through the forest and whistled through the leaves.

"That's a pretty song." Came a voice from beneath me, and I jumped so much I almost fell from the tree. "I was at Hagrid's, and I heard you singing. Good ears, I guess."

Here he was, the werewolf himself, climbing up with such ease I was almost jealous. He positioned himself opposite me and smiled.

"I see you decided to wear clothes this time?" I watched as the skin around his eyes creased with his widening grin. I smiled back.

"Yes, I suppose I did. Thank you, for lending me the jumper, and for – I'm assuming – carrying me back to the Common Room." I look away, feeling suddenly awkward.

"It's fine, you hardly weigh anything!" Remus replies cheerfully, but stops and concern seeps its way into his green orbs. "What's wrong, Star? You seem agitated."

I turn back to him, brows creased, and speak so quietly it's barely audible. "How do you do it? Keep it a secret, and dispel rumours when they arise?" Remus took a deep breath.

"You think they're going to talk. Because of what you said to Atkinson. You think they'll find out about your dad – "

"My dad?" I interrupted questioningly.

Remus paused, and looked at me sideways. "Yes, he's like me, isn't he? That's why he went away. But you don't have to protect him, Star. No-one who matters will judge you for it."

"My father's nothing like you. He's a coward and an utter bastard who cares for no-one except himself. He can burn in Hell for all I care. And I couldn't give a damn what people think of me if I tried, but I have to protect him. That's why I learnt latching. Because I couldn't let him do it alone, and I can't let him be ostracized because of something that isn't his fault."

Tears glistened in my eyes, prickling them; my best efforts couldn't stop them this time. "He's so good, Remus. He never complains, never cries, he does his best with it but he's so small and fragile and I have to keep him safe, Remus. I have to do for him what my father was too selfish to do: pave him a safe life, even if it costs my own. I have to, I owe him that much."

Droplets of rain began to drip from the sky, mixing with tears on my face, and resting gently in my hair. Remus reached out and rested a large, scarred hand on my arm. "Who, Star?" He murmured gently. "Who do you have to protect?" I chewed the inside of my lip, and I tasted the metallic flavour of blood gloss over my tongue. I took a shaky breath.

"Arlo." I muttered, my voice breaking, as a new wave of sobs wracked my body. "My brother. He's ten. In another year, he'll be here, and I can't have people know. They'll ruin him. He's so perfect, Remus, they can't taint him for what he is for one night. They can't blame him for something that's my fault." I cried uncontrollably, feeling Remus's arms fold around my shaking body.

"Oh, Star. I'm so, so sorry." His breath was hot on my neck, and his arms offered a sense of security I'd been without for nine months now. "I'm sure it wasn't your fault, I'm sure no-one blames you." I let out a bitter laugh, almost a bark.

"We left school for Christmas on the 8th of December last year. On Monday the 10th, it was the full moon. Arlo woke me in the middle of the night, saying he'd had a nightmare that someone was scratching at his window, trying to get in, howling in pain. I told him it was just a dream and offered to take him out to look at the moon and the stars to calm him down. When we were halfway back to the house, I realised I'd left my scarf, and told Arlo to sit on a log and wait for me to come back."

I stopped and pulled back from Remus's embrace to look him in the eye. "When I did, there was a huge beast standing over him. I scared it away with magic, but it was too late. Mother snapped my wand and told the Ministry I'd lost it to avoid the court case, and had her sister send me a new one from France. We did everything to make it go away for me, but there was no saving Arlo. By February, my father decided he couldn't take it anymore and left for Australia; he left a letter behind, where he told me it was my fault, and my mess to clear up. So, I started researching, and found an article about latching, and how it could be used to tame werewolves, so I tried it. I taught it to my mother for when I'm not around, but I'm better at it than she is. And it's my responsibility anyway, after what I did."

I looked down, knowing Remus would be angry at me for causing so much pain to a child so young. His hand found my chin and tilted it so I was forced to look into his eyes.

"Star…" He began, his eyes glinting gold against the speckled sun and rain. "It's not your fault. You didn't know, you can't blame yourself. You've done everything you can to help your brother, and I'm sure if he knew you were doing this to yourself, he'd beg you not to."

I opened my mouth to argue, but Remus shook his head. "I promise Star, having lived this life for eleven years, you made the last full moon the best I've ever had. It was like the wolf and I were living side by side, instead of having him tear through me. I wasn't afraid, I wasn't in pain, and that was all thanks to you."

I tried to smile, but I simply couldn't. "He wouldn't need me to do that for him if I hadn't left him alone in the first place." I whispered, not trusting my voice to be any louder.

"You don't know that. If there was a werewolf lurking, it could've got to you, or Arlo, or both of you. You can't focus on what you did or didn't do then, Star. It's what you do after that counts, and from the sound of it, you've done everything right." He smiled a sad smile and wiped the tears from my cheeks.

"We should go," I said, and began climbing down the tree. He followed, then grabbed my wrist.

"I don't know yet what you can do if rumours spread but know that I'm always here if you need to talk. And I am thinking about ways to sort this." I nod and offer a weak smile.

"Thank you, Remus. Perhaps you aren't such a monster after all."

Hi everyone! If you haven't seen, England's been hit with a huge storm, so I've not been at school these past couple days due to knee high snow - we live on a farm, and we literally can't get the cars out! I'm preparing my Jack Nicholson face for when this turns into the Shining! I wrote this chapter curled up in a blanket in the barn, watching the snow coat the fields, trees and hills. Beautiful.

So, Star's finally admitted her secret! What's Remus going to do with it? Hmm...Thank you everyone for the favourites, follows and reviews - please keep up the support, it's really encouraging and nice to see people enjoying my writing.

Love as always, Daughter of Orion xox