"I can't take this anymore!" Remus groaned as he flopped down on the couch in Gryffindor tower. His friends looked up from their game of gobstones.
"What's up Remy?"
"What's got your panties in a wad?"
"These teachers are crazy! Just because exams are in a month doesn't mean they all have to assign loads of homework! I'm practically up to my ears in it! There's no way I'll be able to finish it all!" Remus groaned, "And the full moon is in two days."
They all looked at him confused, and Remus froze as he realized what he said.
"What's the full moon have to do with anything?" Sirius asked suspiciously.
"Er...I uh...I have a project I have to for astronomy during the full moon."
"Why don't we have this project?" James questioned
"It's...uh...extra credit. Anyway I better get started on that homework now." Remus gave a nervous laugh and fled the room.
The others watched him suspiciously. This wasn't the first time he had made a reference to the full moon.
"There's something Remus isn't telling us." Peter whispered.
Sirius smacked him upside the head, "Way to state the obvious Pete. But you're right, he's hiding something. Got any ideas James?"
James just shook his head, "I've got no idea."
"Well he mentioned the full moon, isn't that when he goes to see his mum? Maybe that had something to do with it. "Peter suggested
James and Sirius looked at each other with wide eyes, "Pete you're a genius!" they said in unison. Peter flushed with happiness at the praise.
"It has to do with him visiting his mum. I've always thought it was odd that he goes the same time every month. Maybe there's a pattern." James said.
"Well let's write down all the dates he left and look for similarities."
For the next hour or so the three boys figured out all the dates Remus Had left.
"I don't see any patterns; they're all just random dates." James shrugged.
"Well let's just think on it. Maybe it'll come to us." Sirius suggested they all get some sleep and continue searching tomorrow.
The next few days the boys continued to search but found nothing.
Two days later the three boys were goofing off in DADA, hardly paying attention to the lesson. They knew they should sense Remus wasn't here to take notes for them but they hardly cared.
"Werewolves transform every month at the full moon." the professor was telling the class.
Sirius and Peter continued to throw paper balls at Snape's back, but James stopped suddenly and turned to the teacher, continuing to listen.
"The transformations are brutal and werewolves often have to rest for day's after." images of a weak an exhausted Remus flashed through his mind. "Some werewolves lock themselves into a room for the full moon, but they end up scratching and biting themselves, so most choose to just transform in forests far away from humans." James remembered days when Remus would come back from his mum's with scratches and bite-marks all over his body; he had said it was his dog.
"The dates of the transformation change just as the dates of the full moon do, so it is important to always know the phases of the moon." James remembered the dates they listed, the dates that had seemed so random. James fidgeted in his seat for the rest of the class. He had to know if it was true.
As soon as the bell rang he leapt out of his seat and sprinted down the hallway. He could hear Sirius and Peter yelling at him to slow down but he kept going.
He whipped into the library and ran to the section on dark creatures. He yanked open one about werewolves that confirmed everything the professor said, but didn't tell him if he was right. He slammed the book back on the shelf and ran to the section on moons. He grabbed a book with the calendar of the moons. He was just running out of the library with the book when Sirius and Peter rammed into him.
"James wha-"
"Just come with me!" James yelled as he walked quickly to the tower.
"James what the hell is going on?" Sirius demanded
"Not here. Wait til we get to the dormitory." Sirius obliged and fell silent.
They reached the portrait hole and nearly shouted the password at the fat lady. They stumbled into the common room and up the stairs to their room. James immediately ran to his bed and flipped the book open to the dates of the full moon for the past hundred years. He quickly found the dates for this year and compared them to the dates of Remus's visits.
"They all match..." James whispered.
"What matches James? Would you explain already?" Sirius was frustrated.
"Didn't you hear the professor? Werewolves transform on the full moon. They often have to rest for days after a transformation. When they lock themselves up for transformations they bite and scratch themselves. The dates of the full moon changes every month." James explained, "When Remy comes back from his mom's he's always exhausted and scratched and bitten. And he freaked out when he realized the full moon was soon. And the dates he left are random but always at the end of the month! I just checked and all the dates he left are the dates of the full moon."
Sirius gasped but Peter looked confused.
"What...?"
"Remus is a werewolf." James nodded grimly. Peter gave a terrified squeak.
"He's a werewolf and he's been hiding it from us the whole time." Sirius said, amazed.
"But why? Why would he hide it from us?" James wondered.
Sirius grimaced, "Werewolves are considered scum to most wizards. They are considered dangerous and terrifying. They are outcasts and it's nearly impossible for them to get a job. They're hated." Sirius explained.
James looked disgusted, "But Remus isn't dangerous! And he's obviously never hurt anyone. He's perfectly normal except once a month. And it's not his fault!"
"I know James but most people don't consider werewolves human."
"I still don't understand why he would hide it from us." Peter said
"He's afraid we'll hate him isn't he?" James realized.
Sirius nodded, "He's probably never had friends before us. He doesn't want to lose us."
"But he won't! We won't stop being friends with him over something he can't help."
"He doesn't know that James. He doesn't know it doesn't matter to us."
"I do now." Remus whispered as he pulled back the curtains to his bed.
The three boys yelled in surprise and whipped around.
They stared at each other for a moment before Remus spoke again, "Is that really how you guys feel?"
"Of course it is Remy. You're our friend, we know you. We know you would never intentionally hurt someone. We know it's not your fault." James smiled at his friend
"Yeah, after all how could he we consider you dangerous after we've all seen how scrawny you really are." Sirius teased.
After that Remus knew he was going to be okay, after all if they could joke about it then they had to he ok with it.
"You guys have no idea how much that means to me."