A/N: Hey everyone! I'm sorry that this chapter took such a long time to put up. I feel awful, because I hate those fics that just take forever to update (I feel like that's happened to a lot of the things that I'm writing right now...) but I promise that I'll get back on track from here! I'm aiming for once a week, at least. I had midterms, college stuff, etc...

If it makes a difference, I got into my dream school, so that takes a lot of stress off!

I hope this chapter was worth the wait. I'm really interested in Rita Skeeter, and we will be seeing more of her.

Drop me a review, let me know how it's going! I promise that you won't have to wait so long for the next chapter.

Chapter 2: Spotlight

"Really, Sirius, I'm fine," Remus protested, trying to walk independently of the other man's arm. His legs wobbled, but he kept himself upright. He didn't want to come off as weak as he strode up the front walk to the small cottage where they lived.

Sirius looked concerned, but didn't try to offer support again. Instead he badgered, "You just got out of the hospital this morning. The Healer said that you shouldn't push yourself…"

"Walking into my own house shouldn't constitute as 'pushing myself'," Remus retorted, just before he stumbled over the front step. Sirius reached out and caught him, then resolutely held him up as he opened the door and crossed the threshold. He didn't let go until he could safely deposit his charge in a battered, but comfortable, arm chair. Remus sank into it, embarrassed. "I was fine, Sirius."

"Of course you were…" His boyfriend replied absently, as he began getting the house back in order after their brief stint away. He was happy to see that Rosemerta had come by to feed the owl, and intended to give her a couple of sickles later on for the chore. He next went to look through the small stack of mail that had arrived in their absence. There were some advertisements, a bill for the rent, and a few get-well letters for Remus. There were three copies of the Daily Prophet—Friday, Saturday, and Monday. Sirius briefly skimmed over the latter two, but inhaled sharply when he saw the headline on Friday's edition.

"Remus!" He called. "You may want to see this…"

He hurried over to where Remus sat, and thrust the paper at him. His eyes widened as he read the headline, and the subsequent article:

Local Villagers Unjustly Prosecuted for Defending Their Homes

Below this were two mug shots of the thugs who had attacked Remus, looking surly yet proud of themselves, and leering at the camera. Sirius didn't like the self-righteous glint in their eyes, but looked down to continue reading.

The usually quiet village of Hogsmeade saw quite the commotion late Thursday night, writes Rita Skeeter, special correspondent. The locals reported hearing a scuffle in the street at around midnight, and a few of the braver men went out to see what the matter was.

"I was terrified," says Emma O'Malley, twenty-seven. "I didn't know what was going on, and my husband went out to check while I stayed inside with the children."

What he found appeared to be a street fight, and he initially took pity on the boy, Remus Lupin, who appeared to have been the victim of an unprovoked attack. However, as I can now exclusively reveal, it seems that Mr. Lupin was not so innocent at all.

"He is a werewolf!" one of his assailants, Mr. Daniel Pierce, told me in an interview mere hours after the incident. "My buddy and I saw him prowling around the streets, looking dodgy. He looked like he was up to no good, and we confronted him. The little brat got cocky, and tried to attack us. We had no choice but to defend ourselves!"

While the Magical Law Enforcement Squad is calling this an assault on Mr. Lupin, it is clear that they should really be devoting their efforts to properly thank Mr. Pierce and Mr. Smith for their efforts to make their community a safer place.

Although Lupin was unavailable for comment, he was accompanied to St. Mungo's by a rather short tempered young man named "Serious" Black (and if his behavior towards yours truly is any reflection on Lupin, it does not bode well.) We here at the Prophet took (Continued on page 8, WEREWOLF)

Remus waited for Sirius to reach the bottom of the paragraph before flipping to page eight in horror:

the liberty of digging up a bit of information about Lupin's past. It appears that, against what many would assume to be common sense, Professor Dumbledore allowed the boy to attend Hogwarts, despite his dangerous condition. Over the years, he and his friends were notorious for pranks and rule-breaking, and it is a wonder that they were not expelled.

Given his record, it takes no stretch of the imagination to see that Lupin is a disturbed young man, and could not have been up to any good last night. Thankfully, Mr. Pierce and Mr. Smith were able to prevent him form doing any damage.

They are scheduled for a hearing one week from today, and I can personally assure the public that you will be updated on this issue.

By the time Sirius was finished reading, he was furious. "That lying, bigoted little—" But he stopped at the wounded look on Remus' face. He took a calming breath, before wrapping his arms around the smaller boy, who was shaking slightly.

"I…I just can't believe this." He stammered after a minute, face pale. "Why would she do this? And how…how could she take their side?" He looked at Sirius in desperate disbelief. "How can she—the whole paper! How can they defend them?"

"I don't know," Sirius sighed. He knew that there was going to be more to this. He had a feeling of foreboding, like this was just the beginning of something big. However, he didn't think that Remus would be very receptive to that right now, and decided it better to simply comfort him. "Surely someone will write in about this, right? Some of the readers will know that this is wrong. Anyone in their right mind would side with you."

"Everyone is scared out of their wits right now," replied Remus hopelessly, and Sirius knew what he was thinking: Death Eaters, and Voldemort. They had become more powerful as time went on, and things had only been getting worse as of late. Remus buried his face in Sirius' shirt and continued, "They don't need to be afraid of a rampaging werewolf too. Next thing you know the villagers will be coming at us with torches and pitchforks."

"C'mon now," Sirius hugged him tighter. "Everyone around here knows us. And they like you. They'll know that this doesn't change who you are." He paused for a moment. "And besides, all those people came to rescue you from those thugs, didn't they?"

In spite of this encouragement, Remus still looked grim. "I bet they regret it now."

"Mooney, please…" Sirius tried, using his old nickname. "It's going to—" But one more look from Remus shut him up. It plainly stated that he wasn't going to be made to see the bright side right now, no matter what. Sirius gave up, for the time being, and held him in silence.