Cause I know my weakness, know my voice,
And I believe in grace and choice
And I know perhaps my heart is fast,
But I'll be born without a mask

Babel, Mumford and Sons

The teachers requested that the students of Hogwarts refrain from discussing the incident that had occurred in the dungeons. They had been unable to trace the curse to a student's wand. When word got around several people (the marauders included) were outraged. It was obvious that Mulciber and Avery had been involved, but professor McGonagall assured that neither of their wands had revealed use of the curse.

"It's the stupidest bloody thing I've ever heard." Sirius said bitterly as the four marauders made their way into the common room "Best thing Dumbledore could possibly do is chuck all of the Slytherins out of Hogwarts_"

"You can't discriminate against people just because of their house Sirius" Remus said "That's no different than blood prejudice."

"Of course it is!" James said "Muggle borns aren't raised to hate everyone different than they are."

"Not all pure bloods are raised that way Prongs," Peter added "you weren't."

"Well I was." Sirius said "Those people are intolerable. If gits like Avery and Mulciber are allowed to waltz around here doing whatever they please people are going to start getting hurt."

"This death eater nonsense is spreading like a disease." James sighed.

Remus thought for a minute "Maybe we should start watching them." He suggested "We have the map, one of us could just keep an eye out."

"We could try, but it's a big castle_"

"We could just attack them for preventative measures." Sirius suggested, "Although McGonagall would have us expelled because I'm sure she'd consider it a 'childish and unnecessary attempt at revenge', who is she to say that a true Gryffindor doesn't seek revenge? Especially when the people who were attacked were_"

James stuck his hand out and stopped the rest of the boys just as they were crossing the common room. Adelaide and Abigail were making their way to the portrait hole.

"Hey Dev." James said with a smile.

"Hello James, Peter, Remus…. Black." She replied softly. She had some color under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept in a few days. Her eyes themselves were still very glassy. Remus thought that she looked almost as bad as she had when he'd found her nearly two days ago. "Listen Remus I never got to thank you," she said "I know you don't know me very well and that must have seemed a bit…..strange, but I appreciate you sticking by me."

"Of course Addie, you don't have to thank me. I was just helping a friend. You're feeling better then?" Remus asked with a smile.

"Yes. I'm feeling much better. Abby and I were just headed down to the Great Hall for lunch so I'll see you around yeah?"

She smiled at each one of them when she walked by, but paused briefly when she reached Sirius. He was staring at her very intently, the same way he stared at his motorbike every time he came back from a ride, obsessively examining every inch of its fragile surface for damage. "Alright Deveo?" he asked seriously.

She nodded "Yeah Black."

When she had gone Sirius looked up to meet the slightly confused stares of his best friends "The last things she needs right now is a row," was all he said.

"Awe Padfoot, you do have a heart." James said as he wiped a fake tear form his eye.

"Stuff it, let's just get upstairs. Full moon is in less than three days, we need to discuss some things."

Remus nodded solemnly. He followed his friends up the stairs where they would sit around for an hour and quietly discuss new ways that they could deter him from killing them. As important as these discussions were, they always left Remus feeling quite queasy. He never wanted to burden his friends the way he did every month. If something went wrong he could kill any of them in an instant, and that's not to mention the trouble they would be in if anyone ever found out that they were unregistered animagi. He could already feel his mood starting to change, the full moon wasn't until the end of the week but very subtle transformations always occurred beforehand. His nightmares become worse, his temper was short, and his attention span was almost nonexistent.

That night at dinner Professor Dumbledore had sent Remus a note requesting a meeting with him in his office. Remus had had many of these meetings with Dumbledore over the years but none had been arranged so suddenly.

As he climbed up the stairs to Dumbledore's office, five minutes early as he always was and worrying himself sick like he always did he noticed that the door was almost completely closed. He stood awkwardly outside of it, trying not to eavesdrop, but of course as soon as he heard her voice he didn't have a choice.

"Professor you know that the last thing I want is an altercation with Mulciber_"

"Ms. Deveo I completely understand your concerns, but I need you to understand that I am not capable of expelling a student without significant evidence. His wand did not reveal that he had cast any of the spells used to torture Ms. McDonald and yourself and we have no other proof that he was there_"

"Can't you use veritiserum_"

"I am not authorized to use veritiserum unless it is a dire_"

"It is dire sir!" Adelaide said almost angrily "He threatened my life."

"And we both know what he meant by it. I doubt very seriously that Mr. Mulciber intended to kill you in the dungeons, he was simply trying to scare you."

"Well he did scare me! Of course he did! I always felt safe at this school, even with him here, but now_"

"I have promised your parents, your brother, and yourself that I would not allow any harm to come to you within the walls of this school and I fully intend to keep that promise."

"Professor I am not comfortable with being in the same school as Mulciber."

Dumbledore was silent for a minute "Is there something else you aren't telling me Ms. Deveo?"

"Sir… my mark…. it's gotten bigger."

"Bigger?"

"Yes, it's about the size of a galleon now, I've been telling people it's a scorch mark from a cauldron explosion but_"

"May I see?"

"Of course"

"It does seem to have gotten larger. I will have to have a word with Professor Mullins about that_"

"Sir it's been almost a year since my father passed." Addie said "This is the longest it's taken for someone else to die."

"We've discussed the possibility that the curse, if it operates the way we expect, would no longer affect your family after the death of your father."

"I understand but_ even if the actual curse doesn't off us isn't it possible that the Mulcibers will?"

Dumbledore sighed "It's difficult to say Ms. Deveo; the curse is very old magic. Some don't believe that it exists at all. It is a possibility that all along it was simply the Mulcibers taking revenge, but I'm afraid it doesn't explain the scorch mark. From what my colleagues and I have gathered those marks were used to signify the death of a curse. They would appear on the individual with the last true blood line of the cursed family. In theory it would predetermine its last victim."

"But Jack and I both have one_"

"Which is why I suspect this mark is different. We are doing the best that we can. It's hard to understand some curses and spells , especially ancient magic. In the meantime you are safe here. I will personally keep an eye on Mr. Mulciber and if you have any concerns at all my office door is always open. We're not going to give up Ms. Deveo, please remember that you are not alone in this. Your parents took great care to ensure that."

She was silent for a minute "I understand sir, thank you."

Remus heard movement in the room and his heart jumped. In a panic he raced down the spiral staircase and then turned around to come back up, effectively running into Adelaide as she left Dumbledore's office.

"Hello Remus." She said solemnly.

"Evening Addie." Remus nodded back, praying that she wouldn't suspect that he had heard anything. She didn't say another word, but continued down the stairs.

"Good evening Professor Dumbledore." Remus said as he wandered into the room.

Dumbledore smiled at him from behind his big desk.

"Good evening Mr. Lupin. I'm glad that you received my note and I do apologize for the short notice."

"Oh it's no problem."

"Take a seat."

Remus sat down in a large armchair and tried to pay complete attention to Dumbledore, even though his mind was still sorting through everything he had just heard.

"Now I know you have your prefect duties tonight so I'll make this brief. The full moon will be upon us in just a few days, I trust that you have made arrangements as usual."

"Yes sir."

"Wonderful, Mr Lupin I do commend you for your excellent ability to manage the seemingly unmanageable….and also your knack for finding very loyal friends." He winked.

"Thank you sir." Remus said with a hesitant smile.

"I must warn you that there will be some aurors on the grounds of Hogwarts these next few months. The ministry insists on the extra measures of protection and being that you and I don't want the whole Wizarding world to know of your condition I ask that you and your friends exercise more caution than usual."

"Understood Sir."

"As always if there are any issues or if you have any concerns please don't hesitate to come and talk to me."

"Of course Headmaster, thank you."

Remus smiled one more time and stood to leave

"Mr. Lupin, I have gotten to know you well these last few years, for instance I know that you have come at least five minutes early to nearly all of our appointments _"

"Sir?" Remus asked as Dumbledore smiled at him knowingly.

"I trust that you of all people understand that everyone deserves to have their secrets."

Remus thought briefly of Adelaide and nodded "I understand Sir."

Dumbledore smiled as he dismissed him, and Remus left completely amazed at how little got by the Headmaster.

The full moon and all of its chaos was enough of a distraction for thoughts of secrets, and curses, and Adelaide Deveo to slip from the forefront of Remus's mind. He was reminded about a week later when Adelaide sat in front of him in potions. She tied her long brown hair back into a ribbon and Remus noticed the black scorch mark on her skin.

He thought about talking to her. Maybe, since he was arguably as equally cursed as she was, they could help one and other. Of course that would mean that he would have to reveal his secret to her, which he was not comfortable doing. He didn't know Adelaide that well, and while he liked her very much and felt that she was a good person ,he couldn't bring himself to trust her. Something about that mark made the curse seem very real though, and Remus felt that he had to talk to someone about it. Peter was not capable of having very serious conversations, usually he got very uncomfortable and changed the subject; Remus suspected that Sirius was hovering somewhere between hating Adelaide and being hopelessly in love with her (judging by the looks of concern he had been shooting her all week) so either way wouldn't be privy to a conversation about her imminent death; and James, well James had known Addie for a long time. His father was a higher up in the Auror department just as Addie's had been. There was a possibility that James knew the truth of the matter, since he always made a point to dismiss the school generated rumor of a curse.

"Uh Prongs, can I talk to you about something? Remus asked as soon as Sirius and Peter had left the dorm to sneak down to the kitchens that night.

"Of course Mate, what about?"

"Adelaide Deveo."

James sat on his bed and faced Remus with a serious expression.

"See when I went to visit Dumbledore last week I overheard her_"

"Talking about what?"

"A curse."

James hesitate "Was that all?"

"She mentioned the curse, and Mulciber, and a scorch mark."

James sighed.

"Look James, if you don't want to talk about it that's fine. I only ask because I know that you know her family and well….it seemed pretty serious what she and Dumbledore were talking about."

"What do you mean?"

"She said that the mark was getting bigger."

"Getting bigger?"

"Right and I suppose she thought that was some kind of omen or something."

"Shit," James said with a frown "it might be. What did Dumbledore say?"

"Well he mentioned that the curse was ancient magic and that they didn't know much. He said the mark could be an indicator of the curse's final victim, but he believed her mark was different because Jack has one too…."

"And what did he say about Mulciber in all this?"

"He just said that they couldn't prove he was there in the dungeons and he swore he would make sure she was safe at Hogwarts. He said he'd make sure she wasn't alone in all this." Remus looked up at James and suddenly felt very sad "If I were alone…if I didn't have the three of you helping me, I don't know what I'd do. She shouldn't have to go it alone either."

"Remus," James said "this whole situation with the Deveos is very complicated."

"What do you mean?"

"People that get too involved with them die."

"People that get too involved with werewolves die."

"Fair point."

"So all of it is true? You've known about the curse since the beginning?"

"I've known about it since my Dad told me this summer."

"What did he tell you?"

"Apparently about seven years ago when Voldemort was just starting to gain some followers there was a mass slaughtering at a muggle orphanage. Adelaide's father managed to discover that the attack was led by Jessup Mulciber, his five sons, and a couple of grandsons. The Auror department went after them, killed two of them and locked up Jessup and his oldest son. Of course the few that got away were never pursued and the ministry was satisfied with who they got. Mr. Deveo got a big promotion for the arrests but a few weeks later things started happening to his family: freak accidents, disappearances, illnesses. Eventually Dad said that Deveo became so paranoid that he resigned. My Dad still kept in contact with him, and apparently he told him that just before they carted old Jessup away he cast some kind of ancient curse on his whole family. Deveo didn't believe it until members of his muggle side started dying off. So one day he drags Adelaide and her brother into the Department of Mysteries to have them look at these black marks that had appeared on them. No one knows what they told him, but he felt safe enough to keep sending them back here to Hogwarts. Two years ago when Addie's mother was hit by a muggle bus, Dumbledore started getting involved. Dad said he's been doing as much research as he can. The Mulcibers can't be tied to anything that has happened, Dad's tried. This past year when Mr. Deveo when missing everyone kind of hoped that the curse would be done since he was the one it was initially cast on but if her mark is growing it doesn't seem like that's true."

"Bloody hell," Remus whispered "and I thought I had it bad."

"Listen Remus we can't say anything to Sirius or Peter…."

"I know James. Everyone deserves to have their secrets."

James smiled at him "And she's not alone Moony, Dumbledore and half the Auror department are on her side. She has Jack, her friends, and she has us. Sirius may hate her guts but he's been stalking Mulciber and glaring at any Slytherin that so much as glances at her."

"I just can't believe that it's real."

"No one really knows to be honest. It has been a long time since her Dad died, maybe the curse really has run its course."

"Why would Jack send her here if….."

"Can you think of anywhere safer?"

"Well in theory no, but we both know Hogwarts isn't as safe as it used to be."

"Times are changing Moony."

"I guess…"

Suddenly Sirius and Peter rushed into the room. Sirius was staring down at his feet. His hair seemed to be smoking.

"I don't want to talk about it!" he said as he made his way into their bathroom. Remus and James stared at Peter.

"Adelaide set his hair on fire," he said quietly "she said it was an accident, but she was laughing rather loudly."

"I guess she's feeling better." Remus said with a smirk.

Maybe attacking Sirius was a good sign. Maybe it meant that she hadn't given up. Remus remembered the nightmares she had described to Sirius and he suddenly felt a little guilty about not telling him the truth. If whatever relationship or friendship they had was strong enough perhaps one day she would confide in him, or perhaps she would continue to use him to vent her frustrations. Either way Remus knew that James was right. Whether Adelaide realized it or not, she wasn't alone in this.