"P-Professor Dumbledore!" I stuttered, shocked to see him here. What on earth was Professor Dumbledore doing strolling around in the library after dark? But I banished that thought immediately. This was no coincidence – he knew I was here.

He, on the other hand, seemed very relieved to see me.

"Miss Goodwill, are you okay?" he asked, his blue eyes piercing into my own.

"I'm fine," I said.

"I believe this belongs to you," he said, and to my astonishment, he handed me my wand.

I took it, looking from it to Professor Dumbledore.

"How – how did you get my wand?" I asked slowly, though I already the answer.

"Professor Lupin thought it would be better off my possession," he said simply. I noticed his eyes linger curiously for a moment on the books I was holding, and I shifted my hands so that they covered the title. A thought crossed my mind – did Dumbledore know that one of his staff members was a werewolf? Surely, he must. If Snape himself knew, it was impossible for the headmaster to be ignorant of the matter.

"Did, er, he mention how he came to have my wand with him?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yes," said Dumbledore grimly, "An interesting tale, as it were. He seemed to think you were ready to attack him, and so he was forced to disarm."

I blushed furiously and bowed my head in shame, extremely aware that I had just attacked a teacher.

"Professor, I'm sorry," I whispered quickly, "I – I wasn't thinking straight, I was ignorant and I panicked. I know it was an over reaction, and I'm so sorry that I hit him –"

"You hit him?" he asked sharply, surprised.

"I – yes. I knocked him over with my bag when he disarmed me. He – he didn't tell you?"

"No, he seemed to have left that detail out," he replied thoughtfully, "To protect you, no doubt."

"Protect me?"

"I'm sure you realise, Miss Goodwill, that attacking a teacher is a serious breach of the school rules," he said, not reproachfully, more as a matter of fact, but the words only increased me in shame; I attacked him and he was still covering up for me.

"Take a seat," he said, indicating to the sofa, "We have some matters we need to discuss."

I sat down on the sofa, my hands trembling again, certain I was going to be in so much trouble. Professor Dumbledore conjured himself an arm chair from thin air and sat down.

"Miss Goodwill, I would like you to tell me what happened today in Professor Lupin's office."

I nodded, "I – I saw something in his office. A goblet with some potion in it, and there was a note saying he should drink it. I recognised it from potions class. It – it was wolfsbane."

I watched Professor Dumbledore's expression as I said that last word. His face changed to one of grim satisfaction.

"Professor Lupin guessed that you recognised the potion. He could not think of any other reason for your behaviour. Carry on."

I took a deep breath and continued, "Well, when I saw it, I realised what it must mean – that Professor Lupin is a, well, a werewolf…"

"So, you figured it out," said Professor Dumbledore slowly, finally confirming what I had suspected about Professor Lupin, "I was hoping perhaps there may have been some other reason for your actions."

"Well, no. That was it. I freaked out, when I realised. I panicked, I wasn't think straight," I added defensively, "All I could think was that I was alone with him and that I needed to get away."

The words sounded stupid, even as I spoke them.

"I didn't understand much about werewolves, other than them being classified as dark creatures, and that they are dangerous. I mean, I'm muggle-born and I don't know anything about werewolves other than what I learned in fifth year. We had Professor Quirrell, and he spoke about werewolves as though they were savages. He did not make the distinct that it was only in the werewolf form that it applied, and our textbook only spoke about the creature and not the person. So I blocked the door, hoping I could escape before he could come in, but I couldn't, so I raised my wand – defensively," I said, placing emphasis on the last word, "He told me to lower my wand, but I didn't, so he disarmed me. At that point I panicked, struck him with my bag and ran. I hid in a classroom, and I finally had a chance to actually think, instead of just panic."

I paused for a moment, looking away from Professor Dumbledore and instead focusing on the small table in front of me. The next part would be particularly difficult to explain.

"I realised that I knew hardly anything about werewolves, and what I did know about them clashed with everything I knew about Professor Lupin. Werewolves are apparently evil monsters who want nothing more than to bite our children, but Professor Lupin is one of the kindest, most considerate people I've ever meet. I was confused, so I came here. I found out that werewolves are just normal people who have a problem that affects them one night a month. I understood a lot of things about the Professor too, that I was confused about before, and, of course, I realised my reaction, in his office, was very wrong, and probably very offensive too."

There was a moment's silence. I waited for the admonishment I was sure was forming in his mind.

"You haven't told anyone about your discovery?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"No, Professor."

"And you realise I must ask you to continue holding your silence?"

"Yes, Professor. I won't tell anyone."

"Well, Miss Goodwill, I'm impressed," he said, a gentle smile playing at his lips.

I stared at him, dumb-founded, "Impressed?"

"Yes," he said, looking more amused now, "You could have ran to your common room and announced your discovery to everyone who was there, and caused much panic, which I am sure is exactly what many students would have done. Instead you came here and did some research, and came to a remarkable conclusion. You are right, of course. Professor Lupin is as human as you or I, and, I daresay, more kind-hearted than both of us."

I smiled weakly. Trust Professor Dumbledore to put of positive spin on the evenings events.

"If you don't mind, I was hoping you could accompany me to my office," he said, "We still have some business to attend too."

I stood up and followed him, wondering what business he was referring too and whether he intended to punish me for hitting Professor Lupin.

The walk to his office was completed in silence. I was very preoccupied with thoughts of how I could now face Professor Lupin, after what I had done. There was no doubt that my respect for him increased tremendously, knowing that he suffers so much prejudice and hardship, and yet is still the friendly teacher so many students know and love.

When we arrived at Professor Dumbledore's office, he held the door open for me to enter before him.

"Thank you, Prof – oh!" I gasped, dropping my wand from shock.

Professor Lupin was in the office, looking paler than I had ever seen him and very worried. He stood up abruptly when I entered the room. I stared at him, my eyes wide open, and a blush creeping across my cheeks.

He stepped forward, picked up my wand and handed it to me. I took it, avoiding his gaze and blushing even more. Ever the gentleman, even after I had knocked him over quite unceremoniously. I knew it was rude not to thank him, but my mouth refused to form any words at the moment.

Behind me, Professor Dumbledore entered the office and closed the door, chuckling merrily. He took a seat, and indicated that we should sit also. There were only two seats, and one of them had my school bag on it. I did not bother asking how it had got here.

"Well, Remus," Professor Dumbledore said pleasantly, "You will be pleased to know that Miss Goodwill has not informed anyone of her discovery, and has promised not to."

To my left, I heard Professor Lupin breath a sigh of relief, though I did not look at him.

"And I think she might have something to say to you, also."

I looked up sharply at Professor Dumbledore. He smiled encouragingly at me. Oh, great. He could have at least warned me!

Still not daring to look at the him, I instead fixed my gaze on the end of the headmaster's desk closest to Professor Lupin, and spoke.

"I – I want to say that I'm sorry, Professor. I'm so, so sorry. I over-reacted. I've just spent an hour reading about your, erm, condition in the library and I realise that almost everything I knew before about it was wrong. I would've never have reacted that way if I'd known that I do now," I hung my head slightly before continuing, "And I understand if you're mad at me, but I'm very, very sorry, and I hope you can forgive me."

There was a moments silence and my heart beat rapidly as I waited anxiously for his reply.

"You're forgiven, Faylinn, and thank you."

A wave of relief flooded me, and I finally looked up to meet his eyes. He was smiling kindly, and I smiled back feebly, still embarrassed at what I had done.

"Well, that has settled that, it seems," said Professor Dumbledore happily, "Now, I'm sure your friends will be wondering about your absence, Faylinn, so I think it is best that you return to your common room. Remus, if you could escort her."

Escort me? My insides froze. I was not expecting to be alone with him so soon. This could be awkward…

"Of course," Professor Lupin replied, standing up.

"Good night, Faylinn, Remus,"

"Good night," I replied, and made my way hastily out of the office with Professor Lupin trailing behind me.

Neither of us spoke as we descended the spiralling staircase. Indeed, I had no idea what to say.

As we entered the corridor, Professor Lupin caught up with me and walked at my side. I stole a glance at him when I knew he was not looking. The first thing I saw was a nasty bruise on the side of his head, hidden almost completely by his hair.

"Please don't tell me I did that," I said, biting my lip.

"Did what?" asked Professor Lupin, turning around to look at me in surprise.

Realising he did not even know he was bruised; I conjured a mirror and held it up for him to see. To make things easier for him, I reached forward to brush the hair back away the bruise. He pulled his head back quickly, away from my hand, looking confused. I withdrew my hand immediately.

"I'm sorry – did that hurt?" I asked fearfully.

He reached his hand and touched his face where I had touched him, still looking confused.

"No, it's just – well, never mind," he replied hesitantly, "Can I see the mirror?"

"Oh, yes, of course," I said, handing it to him. He took it, taking obvious care not to touch my fingers, and it was then that I realised why he looked so confused. I touched him, willingly, even though I knew what he was. I remember back to the book I had read. It has said clearly that most people would not touch a werewolf. Apparently, he must have thought I would react like that too. Unlikely, I thought to myself, happily remembering the kiss we shared. Maybe that was why he was so against kissing me. Perhaps he thought I would be disgusted if I knew who I was really kissing.

"That's a pretty nasty bruise," commented Professor Lupin, examining it with interest.

"I'm really sorry Professor, I didn't mean to hurt you," I said guiltily, blushing furiously.

"That's okay, Faylinn," he said, smiling at me as he returned the mirror. I took special care to make sure my fingers touched his.

"It's nothing Madam Pomfrey can't fix."

"Professor, can I, erm, ask you something? About your condition?" I asked nervously.

"Of course," he replied calmly, though I noticed him tense slightly.

"How long have you been a werewolf?" I asked curiously.

"A long time. I was bitten as a young child," he replied, smiling sadly.

"Oh," I said, my expression softening considerably. I imagined, against my will, a young child being attacked by a werewolf. I shivered at the thought and felt tears forming in my eyes. I blinked them back quickly, looking away from the Professor, but not quickly enough.

"What's the matter, Faylinn?" he asked, looking concerned.

"That must have been scary," I said in an audible whisper.

He sighed, "It was."

"I'm glad I found out," I said abruptly, "About your condition, I mean. It explains a lot, I think."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Just small things I always wondered about. Why you have grey hair when you're too young for it, why you look tired a lot, why you're absent a lot, why you're a bachelor, why someone with your intelligence isn't rolling in gold. It makes sense now, though."

"You seem to have put a lot of thought in to that," he said, smiling.

"I guess," I said, shrugging in what I hoped was an off-hand kind of way.

We reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Amor," I said, and the portrait opened to reveal the common room.

I turned to Professor Lupin, he was looking at the common room reminiscently.

"Well, goodnight, Professor," I said, smiling.

"Goodnight, Faylinn, and again, thank you," he replied.

"You're welcome."

I slipped through the portrait hole into the common room, tired, embarrassed and, remarkably, with stronger feelings for the Professor than the last time I had entered the common room.