Author's Note:

Thanks to everyone who is reading and special thanks to Dark Angel 792 for the gracious review! It means a lot when my readers let me know how I am doing and if they are enjoying the story or not.

I hope that everyone enjoys these next installments (putting three new chapters up tonight! I'm just that awesome!).

- A. Moonbeam

Chapter Seven

"Who has to know?

The way she feels inside

Those thoughts I can't deny

These sleeping dogs won't lie

And now I try to lie

It's eating me apart

Trace this life back

I'll keep you my dirty little secret"

- All American Rejects

Austin sighed as she lay in her bed. She was still in slight pain and she was also trying to stay away from Remus. She knew he'd be asking questions, questions she didn't want to answer. However, she also knew that James and Sirius were plotting something for this weekend. She was curious and she wanted to know what it was.

"Austin, are you still up here?" Lily's voice came from the doorway.

"Yeah." Austin croaked out. She hadn't spoken for a few hours and it was starting to catch up with her.

Lily's weight shifted the bed to the right and Austin looked at the red head. "What's wrong?" Lily asked with the damn maternal look in her eyes again.

Austin smiled softly and shook her head. "Nothin's wrong. Just a little stressed and all."

"Austin, I'm not stupid. Being stressed doesn't make you sit up in your bed all day. It makes you go down to the common room and do something foolish that causes a pranking war that goes on for weeks. Is it about what happened last night?" Lily questioned, squeezing Austin's hand that the blond hadn't even realized was being held.

"That's not the only thing. Did you know that I was sent some letters last night? One from the Ministry…the other from him." Austin sneered the last word as if it were the most horrid curse she could think to throw at someone.

Lily gasped and immediately held out her hand. "What did he want?"

Austin handed over the letter and turned away, trying not to think about it, but those words wouldn't leave.

Dear Miss Cross,

I bet you are beautiful now, a wonderful specimen. I will be coming for you soon. I hope it won't be like last time when you put up that fight.

"How do you know it's him?" Lily whispered once she put the letter down so no one could see the words.

"He's the only one that knows I put up a fight besides you. Dumbledore thinks it was just an accident and I never told Sev." Austin shuddered and looked up.

Austin knew that her brown eyes were rimmed in red and that her cheeks were wet. She hated this year. Everything was happening and everything was becoming even more difficult and dangerous.

"What are you planning to do about this?" Lily whispered before placing a hand on top of Austin's shaking ones.

"I'm plannin on stayin here for as long as I can and not goin anywhere at night. I don't think he's brave enough to try and take me durin the day. If I can just stay where Dumbledore is for a little while, I should be a'right." Austin returned in a quiet voice. "I just hope that I'm not signin my death warrant."

"Do you want to go see Dumbledore about this? I'm sure he could do something to help you." Lily was trying to reason now.

Austin smiled and stood from the bed. "Nah, he has too much goin on right now. I hear that he's trying to plan a St. Patrick's Day thing in March. I can't bother him right now." Austin shrugged as she put on a jacket to go down to the common room and began to head towards the bathroom to wash her face. "Besides, I reckon I'll be a'right. I'm just gonna have to be careful from now on."

Lily laughed at this. "You are never careful, Austin Cross. I have to see this!"

Austin knew this wouldn't be the last discussion over this, but for now the other girls were coming up and there could be no more talking about Austin's past.

The second full moon of the new term was approaching fast. Remus noticed that with every day that passed, Austin would become even more jumpy. He'd seen her multiple times going to Madam Pomfrey for a Calming Drought. Austin wasn't speaking about what was making her upset and Lily was being as tight-lipped as ever. Remus couldn't get a thing out of the two. There was only one person that he could go to for answers and he wasn't going to like it at all.

"What do you want, Lupin?" Severus Snape sneered as he looked up from the book his long nose was almost touching.

Remus closed his eyes and tried to talk himself out of being here. No, I need to know what is wrong with Austin! Remus told himself. "Good afternoon, Snape. I just have a couple questions, if you would be so kind." Remus forced himself to smile and then gestured to a chair. "Do you mind?"

"I do actually." Snape smirked as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "But seeing as the resident monster has decided to come to me for help, I see no reason why he shouldn't sit."

Snape kicked the chair out from under the table and Remus sat in it carefully. "Have you spoken to Austin lately?"

Snape narrowed his eyes before looking away quickly, "No."

Remus sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Have you tried to speak to her?" Remus tried a different route. He should have known this wasn't going to be easy.

"Yes. She doesn't want to speak about what is bothering her, but she doesn't talk about a lot of things." Snape frowned.

Remus thought he may be in luck. It seemed Snape wanted the exact same thing he did. "Snape, Austin is a mutual friend, correct?" Remus waited until he had the Slytherin's attention before continuing. "I'm worried about her. From her visit to the hospital wing last term and her going there again this term for pains that come from an unknown physical reason to this, I am beginning to worry for her safety. I am sure that you have noticed the same things and I am positive that you know more about this than I do. However, we are both worried about her and want her to be the same Austin that we once knew. As such, I propose that we work together on making things go her way for a little while."

Snape smirked at the proposal before shaking his head. "Austin does everything for a reason, Lupin. She's avoiding me because she thinks it will be the safest thing for me. If I were to guess, the person who killed her family is now after her."

Remus' face paled. Two people worked to destroy her family. A werewolf killed her parents and Voldemort killed her brothers. Neither of those people was good to have come after you, Remus knew. "Voldemort is coming after her?" Remus whispered out.

"Of course not. He wouldn't bother himself with Austin. She hasn't come into her full potential yet. No, it's the werewolf." Snape glared at him before he stood from the table in a flourish of his school robes. "As such, I would suggest that you keep away from her. Your paws almost had blood on them once, do not forget that."

Snape strode away and left Remus in the back of the library with fear seeping through his veins. Would he hurt Austin? Not in his human form, but when the full moon rose there was no telling what he would do. If Austin got in his path, he would definitely kill her.

It had almost been a full month since Austin had received her letter. It was getting closer and closer to February twenty-third; the full moon. She tried to act normal, but she knew that she wasn't. She was hardly eating and she jumped at every small noise. Sirius was actually cursed so badly by her that he ended up in the hospital wing for three days with a third degree burn on his chest.

Austin was so terrified that she was trying to stay away from all of her friends. She did not need them to be hurt because of her. Austin was sitting in the common room late at night. There were only two days left before the full moon and she was watching the orb in the sky. She hated the thing now. When she was a child, it was the most beautiful object in the sky. Austin smiled softly to herself before she looked down at her hands. She was so pale that she could be one of the Hogwart's ghosts herself. Things were getting out of hand and Austin needed to fix them as soon as she could.

"Austin?" Remus' voice came from somewhere in the room.

Austin didn't bother to look at him, but she did jump when she heard his voice. It was rough sounding, as if he were getting sick again. She jumped once more when she felt his hand on her shoulder. His skin was too warm or maybe she was just too cold. Austin quickly pulled at the ends of her sleeves.

"Austin, why aren't you in bed? It's almost three in the morning."

"I'm not tired." Austin returned simply. Her voice was quiet, even to her ears.

"What's wrong? Don't try to lie, either. I've noticed the change in you." Remus demanded to know.

Austin flinched away from him and stood. "I can't tell you, Remus."

"You can't or you won't?"

Austin paused at that. She always told people that she couldn't tell them her secret. The reality was, however, that the secret really was hers to tell now. Her family was all dead and she was the last one in the bloodline that knew the secret. The truth was, that she couldn't tell for fear of what her life would be like after everyone knew. Austin closed her eyes and shook her head. "I know you're a prefect and all, Remus, and you can take points away from me if ya want, but I'm goin to the Room of Requirement. I need out of this damn tower." Austin stated finally and walked towards the portrait hole.

She heard the portrait hole close and then reopen. She heard Remus following her. She heard every breath he took. Austin closed her eyes before darting into an empty classroom and turning towards the door with a glare on her pale face.

When Remus walked into the room, however, she couldn't stay mad. Remus Lupin looked horrible. His eyes were ringed in red as if he hadn't been blinking and he had dark bags under his eyes as if he hadn't been sleeping. His skin was even paler than Austin's and there was a light sheen of sweat on his forehead. He was also sporting a bit of stubble on his chin where a small scar would have been had he shaved. His robes seemed to be falling off him, as well. Austin took a step forward with worry in her eyes.

"Remus, are you sick again?" Austin questioned as she cocked her head to the side.

"What?" Remus questioned before he had a look of dawning on his face. "I just haven't been sleeping well lately. I may be getting sick."

"You should go see Pomfrey. She should be able to fix you up." Austin stated, but never once did she smile like she normally would.

Remus took a step forward and Austin took a step back. "Are you alright, Austin? You haven't been acting normal for a while." Remus whispered.

Austin tried to smile, to make him go away. The smile came out more of a grimace and she sighed. "There's just a lot goin on, Remus. I don't wanna hurt anyone." Austin whispered before she moved to look out the window in the classroom.

"Austin, you can't hurt anyone. You would never hurt anyone here." Remus returned simply, as if those words could solve everything.

"I believed that once, Remus. Now, I'm not so sure. I may need to go back to America." Austin sighed and turned with a soft smile. "I have my secrets, Remus, as do you. I know that you and the others have secrets, too, but mine are dangerous and dark. Just leave them in peace, Remus, and don't ask about 'em anymore." Austin looked back and her eyes were so sad that she could see Remus visibly flinch when he saw them.

She hadn't expected what happened next. She could have never believed it would happen. All she knew was that she was slowly turning around to leave the room when Remus' arms came around her in a tight embrace.

"Austin, you will not fight this battle alone. I can understand enough about your past to know that you are afraid of someone and I can promise you that I won't let them hurt you." Remus muttered into her hair.

Austin felt her eyes close and her body convulse. It took her a moment to realize that she was crying into Remus' shoulder. They were sitting on the floor, leaning against the teacher's desk. Remus rocked her back and forth as she clung to him. It took her thirty minutes to cry herself out, but she did not release Remus from her grip.

"Would you really fight for me, Remus?" Austin whispered suddenly into the darkness. "Would you fight even if you knew that the person after me was…was a monster?"

Remus shifted positions so he could stare into her brown eyes with his own golden ones. "There isn't a monster I wouldn't protect you from, Austin. I will stake my life on that promise."

Austin didn't even think before she did something that would cause her mind to go fuzzy and her body to tingle every time she thought about it. She reached forward and pressed her lips to Remus'.