Remus thought that three in the morning was a rather terrible time to be awake, but unfortunately his brain didn't seem to agree. When he'd blinked the sleep from his eyes, he groaned and stared at the still dark sky. After lying there for what felt like a long time, but was probably only a few minutes, alternating his gaze between the canopy of his bed and the swollen, nearly full moon outside, he became aware of a curious noise in the background. It sounded like piano music.

Giving up almost all hope of getting back to sleep and curious about the noise, Remus grabbed his wand and Tom Sawyer off his nightstand and descended the spiral staircase to the common room. Stopping at the bottom stair, he peered into the room carefully, surprised at what he saw. Lewis sat at the piano; looking more at ease than Remus had yet seen the other boy in the month he'd known him. He stood for a while, listening, before stepping into the room and heading to a seat near the piano. Lewis started slightly when Remus sat, but smiled and nodded when he realized who it was.

"Did I wake you up? I can't really tell how loudly I'm playing," he said, softly touching his ear, and Remus remembered their short conversation the night of their Sorting.

"No, I was already awake. Heard the music, came down to investigate," said Remus, and Lew looked nervous for a moment, opening his mouth several times and closing it again without making a sound before finally asking his question.

"Was it any good? I, uh, can't really tell," he said, touching his ears again, and Remus nodded quickly.

"It was great!" he paused for a moment before continuing. "Er, you play even when you can't hear? I didn't even know you played at all," said Remus, and then felt silly, as this was only the second real conversation he'd had with Lewis.

"My grandfather started teaching me when I was little. It, uh, helps, I think, or at least it feels like it does. I don't know, I just like to play," he said, and because they apparently had nothing more to say, they fell into silence while Lewis continued to play softly and Remus flicked through his book.

"Full moon tomorrow," Remus said, surprising himself and Lewis as well apparently, because he hit the first wrong note that Remus had heard him play the whole time.

"Yeah," he responded, his normally quite voice basically non-existent at this point. The two boys stared at each other for a few long moments, each clearly able to see that the other had something he wanted to say, something to explain why he was awake so early and why he was hiding away in the common room in his book or his music, some secret that explained somehow, at least a little, why he was the way he was.

But because it was 3 AM and they were both introverts by nature and they had only had two actual conversations in the time they had known each other, Remus opened up his book and Lewis turned back to his playing. They stayed that way for hours, Remus sitting in his armchair, only moving once to stand and retrieve a book from one of the bookcases that lined the room after he'd finished Tom Sawyer. Lo didn't stop at all, until they heard movement from the dorms above them.

At that point, they bid each other nervous good-byes, Remus returning the book to the shelf and heading upstairs to shower and change, while Lo headed straight down to breakfast, already dressed. And soon, in the best tradition of pre-teen and teenage boys, they put the incident out of their minds and went on with their lives. And of course, in the best tradition of Hogwarts and fate, it seemed to come crashing back into their lives later that night.

When Remus, Tonks and Adam took their seats across from Lewis at dinner that night, Remus noticed that the other boy was looking distinctly sick, his floppy brown hair hanging down into a face that was much paler than usual. His hands shook as he held his fork.

"You feeling all right, mate? You look pretty bad," said Adam, but Lewis didn't look up from his dinner. Adam looked at Remus and Tonks for an explanation, and Remus reached across the table and waved a hand over Lew's food. The other boy looked up in surprise, and Remus pointed to his own ear.

"Yeah. Worse now," he said, then looked down at his food again, "I think," he continued, pushing his food away, "I think I'll just head up. Don't feel much like eating."

The three of them watched the other boy push his way through the crowd still filing into the hall from their final classes of the day, and then turned back to their food without much thought. But just as everyone was settling down to eat, the huge doors of the Hall burst open, and Ben rushed in, running towards the Head Table.

His green eyes, already huge, were now almost comical in their largeness, and it was a good thing he'd shed his robe before coming down for dinner, or the scene would have been too laughable for anyone to take seriously. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows and looked down at the prefect, whose usually immaculate spikes were messy, his silver badge crooked.

"Mr. Boyce?"

"There's a," Ben sputtered, gesturing over his shoulder, "a were- a were- there's a werewolf, sir. Third- third floor hallway, sir. Big, vicious-looking thing, sir. I'm really only still on my feet because passing out isn't manly."

The hall was silent for a moment, shock and Ben's reputation as a prankster creating a bubble of quiet for a few seconds. And then the bubble burst, and the hall filled with noise. Remus glanced up at the High Table as the teachers descended toward the tables in an effort to restore calm. Linkin slipped into his seat as Remus watched, a smile revealing his pointed teeth and something strange about his eyes.

Remus took off running.

For a moment, it was all about getting as far away from Linkin as possible, and then he remembered Lewis, sick and nearly deaf, heading up to the common room with no knowledge of what was going on. He sprinted through the doors and thought he heard someone yelling after him, but pretended he didn't notice it over the din, running faster. Nothing short of a brick wall could have stopped him now.

He'd made it up three staircases before he realized he heard footsteps behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see Adam and Tonks running after him. His long legs and head start gave him an advantage, but the other two were keeping pace fairly well. He wanted to shout at them, wanted to tell them to go back, but he was breathless from the run and the fear, so he counted stairs up and turned on to the stairs up to the fifth floor.

Rounding a corner, he saw Lewis standing, wand raised, opposite fist clenched. Rather than terror, his normally sad gray eyes were filled with anger as he stared at the massive shape at the end of the corridor. Remus froze, rooted to the spot as he saw the werewolf illuminated by the corridor's torches and the moonlight pouring in from the window.

Five years is a long time, but Remus wouldn't ever forget that face. Greyback was here, in Hogwarts, staring down a hallway at him. He heard Tonks and Adam slow to a stop beside him, but he couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breath. The werewolf bared its teeth and advanced at a run. Remus stayed frozen, but Lewis didn't. Their eyes met for a moment as they stood next to each other, and said I can't tell you my secret because I'm embarrassed by it and it's really personal, but this is pretty much it.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" was what Lewis said out loud, and the werewolf was slowed, rising in the air and crashing back all within a moment. Remus was still frozen as Lewis backed up to stand by the others. Greyback regrouped and ran again, leaping toward the group.

"Remus!" Tonks yelled, her hand reaching out for his arm, and her touch brought him back to the present, the here and now, and he reached out, pulling Adam and Tonks down, Adam latching on to Lewis, and the werewolf soared over them. For a moment, he was there again, six years old and terrified, but he felt the reassuring pressure of Tonks on one side and Adam on the other.

He rolled over, fumbling his wand out of his pocket as he came face to face with Greyback. And in a moment of astounding clarity in the barrage of terror and memories, Remus could see what Greyback was here for.

Him, Remus Lupin, and him alone. The spell popped into Remus's head, a reaction more than an actual thought, and he shouted as Greyback moved to close his jaw around Remus's wrist.

"Rotoisi!" he yelled, and Greyback seemed surprised for a second before the silver light slammed into his mangled face and sent him flying backwards. The spin from the spell was just enough that the massive werewolf crashed through the glass of the nearest window, giving a long howl as he fell.

"Wow!" said a voice in front of Remus, and for the first time he saw the four teachers standing at the corner of the corridor, wands raised. It was Armistead who'd spoken, and Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape accompanied him.

Remus got shakily to his feet and helped the other three up, adrenaline still rushing, until he felt his legs nearly buckle and sank against the wall, feeling his shoulders shake against the stone. He felt as though he was going to be sick. Tonks sank down next to him as Lewis and Adam stared. Dumbledore and Armistead hurried over and crouched down in front of them as McGonagall looked on with worry and Snape rolled his eyes.

"Mr. Lupin, do you require the attention of Madame Pomfrey?" Dumbledore asked, but Remus shook his head, trying to push himself up, only to find three hands pushing him back down. "I think it would be best if you sat for a moment. What exactly happened here? Why did you leave the Great Hall in such a desperate hurry?"

Remus tried to speak, but his mouth was dry and his tongue heavy, and he only managed a few stuttering syllables before Tonks took over, "Lewis wasn't feeling well, and he's been having troubles with his ears all day, so he left dinner before Ben got there. Remus must have realized that and took off, and well, Adam and I followed Remus. We found Lewis and the werewolf here. Lewis got it with a spell, and then Remus got it with another and pushed out the window. We didn't do anything wrong."

"No, of course not. Though it might be said that your exit from the hall was a little hasty," said Dumbledore, smiling softly, and Tonks and Remus both blushed and looked down. Behind them, Adam did the same. "Well, as long as no one was injured, I think these students should head back down to dinner. I'm sure they're all absolutely famished. Professor Snape, would you be so kind as to fetch Mr. Linkin for me, it seems this window needs some repair." Snape looked offended, but left nonetheless, and McGonagall went with him. Armistead asked Remus if he was all right one last time, and then followed his colleagues.

When the others had disappeared, Remus finally found his voice as Dumbledore turned to follow them, "It was Greyback, sir. I'd know him anywhere."

Dumbledore stopped, turning slowly to look at Remus over his half-moon glasses. "I see," he said, "You are sure you don't need to visit the hospital wing, Mr. Lupin?" Remus nodded, "Very well then. Thank you." He said, and left the four first years in the corridor, Tonks and Remus leaning against the wall, Adam and Lewis standing in front of them.

"Thanks," said Lewis, his voice barely a whisper, the angry red fading from his cheeks to be replaced by the sickly pallor of earlier, "I think I'll just head up now."

"Are you sure you don't need Madame Pomfrey?" asked Remus, concerned for the other boy even though he felt sick himself. Lewis looked considerably worse than Remus felt.

"No, but thanks," he responded, and turned on his heel, leaving without another word. The three remaining Gryffindors heard footsteps coming towards them, and turned to see Linkin approaching, a large dustpan in one hand and a look of pure fury on his face. Remus felt frozen again, and terrified, his heart beating so fast and so loud that he thought that Linkin must be able to hear it, but he forced himself to meet the caretaker's eyes. He didn't know what he was trying to prove, but Linkin just gritted his sharp teeth and moved past them, muttering something that Remus couldn't understand.

"Come on, Remus, let's head back down. I think Adam's about two minutes away from collapsing due to lack of food."

"Am not!"

"Are too," said Tonks, without missing a beat, reaching out to tug on Remus's robe to get him moving.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"You and Remus both are. I can tell."

"What, do you have magical powers or something?"

There was a moment of silence as they descended the Grand Staircase before Tonks spoke again, "Well, yeah. That's why they gave me the wand and let me go to school here. But I've also known you and Remus for over a month now, and if you're not studying or sleeping, you're hungry. And I don't know, maybe you dream about food."

Adam looked at Remus for a second, who shrugged, before saying, "You know us too well."

"I know," said Tonks, and they entered the Great Hall unnoticed, while Dumbledore explained the situation to everyone. A overwhelming feeling of nervousness still hung in the air, but once Dumbledore had sat back down, the chatter in the hall gradually picked up again and a crowd gathered around Ben, who'd almost managed to stop shaking by this point.

Remus spent the rest of dinner shoving his food around his plate in an attempt to make it look like he'd eaten it, and avoiding the gazes of those around him. He managed to passively participate in the conversations going on, and when dinner was over, he sat in the common room with Tonks, Adam, Winfield and Sophia and worked on his Transfiguration essay and a star chart for Astronomy.

At half past nine, when the common room began to clear out, Remus packed up his stuff and headed up to the dorms with Adam and Win, bidding good night to Tonks and Sophia. Changing into his pajamas, he said the same to the four other boys and lay down to sleep. For two hours, he stared up at the canopy of his bed, lost to the darkness, as someone had drawn the curtains, cutting off the moon's light.

And then, just before midnight, Remus got out of bed, walked silently and carefully down to the common room, and was dreadfully, violently sick in the trashcan near the fireplace. When he'd finally stopped vomiting, he sat with his head back against the bricks of the fireplace, tears running down his face, trying to calm his racing heart and praying that no one would descend the stairs.

He could see his hands shaking in the dim, dying light of the fire, his tears giving them a strange, yellow, glowing look, and he tried to put them on his knees, but in doing that he found that they were shaking also. It was only then that he realized his whole body was shaking, not with sobs but with fear and anger and exhaustion. Every muscle in his body hurt, and he could feel each heartbeat somewhere in the back of his skull.

But as he stared down at his wrist, where he could still feel the heat of Greyback's breath on his skin, Remus knew that there weren't any marks there, ran his hand over it to make sure, felt only smooth skin and bumpy, faded blue veins. And he remembered how to breathe again, and how to think without the persistent haze of terror clouding his brain. Pushing himself up from the ground, he went to wash his mouth out in the bathroom and went back to bed.

The familiar dream came again, but because it was familiar, it held much less terror than the day had, and Remus slept through it.

"Quidditch this weekend!" said Adam, by way of greeting to Remus and Tonks the next morning. "Gryffindor-Ravenclaw."

"Don't we usually play Slytherin first?" asked Remus, through a yawn.

"Yeah, but they claimed that bad weather and injuries prevented them from having tryouts on time, so them and Ravenclaw switched positions this year."

"They probably just want to put off the embarrassment of losing for as long as possible," said Tonks, and the other two nodded in agreement.

"You guys see this yet?" asked Jeremiah when they'd reached the table, pushing The Daily Prophet across to them. "More centaur ashes got stolen."

"From Gringotts?" asked Remus, scanning the story from next to Tonks.

"No, some private apothecary owner. But it was more this time, the store had just gotten in a big shipment. Win nearly fainted when he heard the amount."

"Did not," said Win around a mouthful of toast. Jeremiah rolled his eyes and continued.

"Just over sixteen ounces. It was a big shipment apparently," he said, and Win just shook his head and muttered to himself in astonishment.

Sophia, sitting between Win and Lewis, who still looked a little pale, asked, "Do they think it was the same person who robbed the Gringotts vault?"

Jeremiah shrugged, speaking around a mouthful of something, "Don' know. Jus' said Aurors were still investigatin'."

Sophia pulled a face as Tonks rolled her eyes before speaking, "What could anyone want to do with over 30 ounces of centaur ashes besides sell them on the black market?"

The group fell silent against the ever-present chatter of the hall for a few seconds, looking at each other as if searching for the answer in their friends' faces, before Adam spoke up.

"Zombie centaur?" he said, and silence reigned for a few more moments before Win gave one of his huge barks of laughter and Jeremiah nearly fell out of his spot on the bench. Even Lewis gave a huge grin, and Remus laughed with the rest of them.

The threat of Greyback didn't seem far away, because he'd watched through the window as the werewolf had escaped into the Forbidden Forest, because he could still feel the heat on his wrist and see the hate in those eyes, because whatever had contained his irrational fear of Greyback now wanted to scream at him that it'd been right, because something in the back of his mind was trying to remind him of something to do with centaur ashes.

It wasn't that the threat seemed far away that allowed him to laugh, but rather the thought that it didn't matter so much when he was with his friends.