Author's Note

I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, I'm sorry that I don't have your names but you know who you are! I am very much looking forward to the rest of the story and I hope that everyone enjoys these next three installments of the day. Let me know what you guys think!

Something I should remind everyone, Austin is from America so James' Animagus form would be considered a buck (a male deer) instead of a stag as it is referred to in the books and movies. I just wanted everyone to remember this since a friend of mine informed me that some people may not realize I'm talking about the same animal.

- A. Moonbeam

Chapter Ten

"May it be an evening star,

Shines down upon you.

May it be when darkness falls,

Your heart will be true

You walk a lonely road;

Oh, how far you are from home

Darkness has come

Believe and you will find your way

Darkness has fallen

A promise lives within you now"

- Celtic Woman

Austin woke the next morning in the hospital wing. She squinted at the streaming light that came through the windows. She remembered the fight from the night before and the smaller wolf running off after a large buck came through the brush and chased him away. Then the large dog turned into Sirius Black and he helped her through the forest and up to the castle where Ashlee and Lily waited to escort her to the hospital wing. She remembered nothing after that.

"I don't know what she was thinking. She could have been killed, Headmaster!" Pomfrey's voice came from the end of the wing.

"She was protecting her friends, Poppy. However, she did put her own life in danger and that of Mr. Lupin as well. She will be spoken to." Dumbledore's voice echoed to her in a very calming way.

Austin slowly moved her head to see what was pinning her arm to the bed and smiled when she saw Lily grasping her hand even in sleep. At the foot of her bed was another head belonging to Peter. He was snoring softly. In the bed across from her, however, sat another student who was looking straight at her with no emotion on his face at all.

There were bandages on his arms and his face was scratched up. Another bandage was wrapped around his neck but it wasn't bleeding through like the ones on his arms. Austin felt her free hand come to her mouth and she shook her head. This caused her to become light headed so she stopped immediately. She glanced down at herself and noted that she was in worse condition. She had bandages that were bleeding through all over her body.

She frowned once more and pulled her hand gently from Lily's grasp. For once, Austin was glad that the curtain separated her from the other end of the wing. She could now hear Ashlee in a whispered argument with James and Sirius. Austin moved carefully out of her bed so she didn't wake up her companions and walked on bare feet to Remus' bed. Pain shot through her legs but she ignored it because she had to check on him, speak with him.

He looked shocked that she was coming close to him and began to hold up a hand to stop her progress. Austin ignored him and kept moving until she was next to him. "Why didn't you tell me?" Austin whispered as she sat in the chair at his bed side with a slight groan coming from her muscles.

"Tell you what?" Remus responded stiffly as he plucked a string from his blanket.

"Why didn't you tell me you're a damn werewolf, Remus?" Austin growled lowly as her eyes cut up at him.

Remus nodded his head slightly as if realizing that was what she was talking about. He looked away from her and his face became even harder if that was possible. "I don't tell a lot of people about it. Everyone who knows found out by accident. I ask that you don't tell anyone." Remus stated simply before he looked towards the curtain.

Austin looked at him for a moment and she nodded her head, "I won't tell a soul, Remus. You should already know I'm good at keepin secrets. Now, do you remember anything from last night?"

Remus shook his head bitterly and looked at her, "I'm guessing that I attacked you from your wounds."

Austin looked at her hands with a soft smile on her lips, "Actually, you saved my life."

Remus looked at her and she could tell that he didn't believe a word. "What are you on about?"

"Have you not looked at your wounds, either, Remus? You have a werewolf bite on your damn neck. That should tell you that there was another werewolf out there and that werewolf was trying to kill me." Austin explained quietly as she noticed Lily was stirring.

"You went to meet Greyback last night?" Remus looked at her in shock and Austin nodded her head while opening her mouth to explain further.

"Miss Cross, why are you out of bed?" Pomfrey bustled through the curtain and looked disapprovingly at Austin's form.

"I wanted to check on Remus. He did save my life and all." Austin spoke with a soft smile.

"I don't care if he becomes the father of your children!" Pomfrey ranted as the two teenagers blushed furious shades of red, "I want you back in your bed this instant!"

Austin got up carefully and moved slowly back to her own bed. Lily was sitting up and frowning while Peter rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Austin carefully adjusted herself on her cot before looking over at Remus. He still wasn't looking at her, it was almost like he couldn't handle looking at her any more. Austin looked away from him and continued to stare at her arms as Pomfrey worked on Remus' wounds.

"Both of you will need to stay here for another night. Miss Evans, Mr. Pettigrew, if you would please leave for a while. I believe there is still some lunch in the Great Hall." Pomfrey was giving them an easy out before Austin blew up.

Austin smiled at her friends and nodded that she would be fine. She watched as they left and Lily promised to be back later. Ashlee would be coming too. Austin waited until they left and then watched as Pomfrey began unwrapping her wounds. Austin knew that her wounds would heal at a faster rate even if she would be sore for a while. She smiled as she noticed that the smaller wounds were already pink scars while the deeper gashes were scabbing and the skin around them was puckered. Austin just felt a sense of relief that there seemed to be no bite wounds to speak of anywhere on her body.

Madam Pomfrey didn't make a single acknowledgement that there was anything weird about Austin's wounds as she gathered up a healing salve. Austin tried to sit still as a paste was applied to her wounds and bandages began to wrap around her arms. "You should feel grateful that nothing else happened to you out there. How on earth did you think you could survive being out there with a fully grown werewolf?" Pomfrey mumbled lowly but Austin knew that Remus could hear.

"I just knew that I'd be able to take care of myself, Ma'am. It's somethin I've been doin for a while now." Austin explained simply before looking away and not saying another word.

Austin could feel Remus' eyes on her even after Madam Pomfrey left to go to her office. She didn't bother to look at him, but she did hear his blanket move after a moment. She tried to ignore the fact that Remus was next to her bed now, but it was hard when he sat in the chair that Lily had been in when Austin awoke.

"You're mad at me, aren't ya, Remus?" Austin sighed before she looked over at the hard expression on his face.

"I want to know why you thought it was a brilliant idea to go outside on a full moon." Remus spoke softly but there was a harsh tone to his voice.

"I was told by Greyback that if I didn't come and meet him on the next full moon, he would hunt down every one of my friends and kill them until I was the only one left. I wasn't gonna let him do that." Austin explained simply before looking over at him. "I didn't expect you to show up and have a show down with him."

Remus didn't laugh at this or even find it entertaining. Austin frowned as he began to talk, "You should have died, Austin. Greyback should have been able to kill you or at least bite you and I should have killed you or bit you after I chased him away. Why are you not dead or a werewolf?"

Austin cocked her head to the side with a little smile on her face and shook her head. "I will answer your question if you answer one of mine," Austin compromised and when Remus nodded, she continued. "Why didn't you ask if I hated you?"

"I am assuming you do and you are only speaking with me out of a sense of being polite. You've always been polite." Remus explained gruffly before leaning back in his chair so he was further away from her.

"For one, Remus, I don't hate you. I've been around werewolves before. Mr. Burnings, as a more recent example. I don't hate him, so why would I hate you?"

"I live with you, Austin. Why wouldn't you hate me?" Remus chuckled darkly and crossed his arms.

Austin looked him over for a moment and noticed that he looked like a wounded puppy. She smiled softly and reached her hand over to brush his hair from his face, "I'll answer your question now. The reason Daddy worked so hard on tryin to find a cure is because my mother's side of the family was full of 'em. My great-great-great grandpa was the first one in the family. He was bitten by someone, we aren't sure who. He was only ten when he was bitten and back then it was even harder for him to do anything as a werewolf. After he married a healer in 1727, he started a family. He was a farmer by trade and made sure that his family had food. At the age of five, his first son began to show signs of lycanthropy. When the son was ten, he changed for the first time. That sons' name was Charles Jr, after his father. He had three brothers and two sisters that also turned into werewolves at the age of ten. Charles is my great-great grandpa.

"Charles married and took over the family business of farming. His first born was a daughter and she turned into a werewolf at the age of eight. She had only one brother and his name was Brandon. Brandon is my great grandpa. Brandon married and had a set of twins. The boy was named Charles III and he turned into a werewolf at the age of six. His sister didn't turn until she was thirteen. Charles married and only had one daughter named Esmeralda. Esmeralda is my mother and she married my father. They had two sons and one daughter. The boys turned into werewolves at the age of five and the daughter hasn't turned yet at the age of seventeen." Austin told her story quietly and kept her face even.

"You are the only one in a long line of werewolves that hasn't turned yet?" Remus questioned, just as quietly.

"That's right. I've been feeling the pains that my brothers felt when we were younger, but nothing comes from them. I've always had higher senses than a normal human and my reflexes are a bit better. Last night I was able to fight Greyback off because during the full moon I have better strength. I also know how to fight like a werewolf from the training my brothers put me through. When they noticed I wasn't turnin they decided I needed to know how to protect myself." Austin shrugged her shoulders slightly and smiled softly, "Daddy thought my blood may hold the key to the cure, but I have the werewolf gene and it's a dominant trait. He didn't understand why I wasn't turnin."

Remus shook his head as he rubbed his eye with a bandaged hand, "You're lucky, Austin. Don't try to become something like me."

Austin pushed her legs over the side of the bed so she could look at Remus better, "I'm not tryin to turn into a werewolf, Remus. That's not my plan in life. My plan is to keep my friends safe from the werewolf that wants me dead."

"You mean he was going to kill you, not turn you?" Remus shot his head up so he was looking into Austin's blue eyes with his own golden ones.

"Yes, he wants me dead because I'm the only one that knows a cure is possible. Everyone else has long given up. There are people playing around with the idea of Wolfsbane, but it's impossible to actually cure anything. The best it's going to do is cut down on the symptoms. I don't want a temporary release, I want a cure and I won't stop until I find one or die." Austin spoke softly before placing her palm to Remus' neck, "Just promise me that you won't jump into the middle of a fight like that again."

Remus laughed now and took Austin's hand in his own, "I can't promise that because I don't even remember it. When I saw you in this bed, I thought I had done that to you. I'd no idea that I was the one to save you and never even touched you until you told me."

"No, you never touched me once. You actually were chased off by James because he thought you were going to attack me. Some friend he is, didn't even realize what you were tryin ta say." Austin laughed before she noticed Remus looking at her differently again.

"If you weren't wounded worse than me, Austin Cross, I'd probably just have to kiss you right this moment."

Austin felt her heart skip about five beats before going into overdrive. She tried to breathe evenly, but Remus' eyes glowed even in the brightly lit room. She knew for a fact that there were some remnants of the wolf still present in his mind and body at the moment, but they had shared many kisses before this day. They just haven't had any recently because of all the drama that has been coming about. Austin smiled shyly before leaning forward so she was just an inch away from his lips, "You've no idea how fast I heal, Remus Lupin."

With that, Remus claimed her lips with his own in a heated kiss that was only broken up when the resident werewolf hunter entered the curtained area to yell at the both of them for their stupidity and to blame Sirius for all the stress she was under.

Austin was sitting in the library with Severus Snape on a Monday afternoon. He was angry with her, but he wouldn't tell her why. As such, Austin continued to go over her potions homework and then grabbed another roll of parchment to start on her transfiguration assignment.

"Lupin seems to have warmed up to you nicely." Severus sneered as he tossed a book onto their already loaded table.

"Remus and I are friends, Sev." Austin sighed as she put down her pen, "We've not made anything official though."

Severus' face grew dark as he stood roughly from his chair. "So, you admit to fancying him?"

Austin cocked her head to the side as she stood up so she didn't feel as if she were on a lower level to Severus, "I like him, Sev. I'm not really sure what he thinks of me. We've kinda hit a wall."

"He knows?" Severus whispered as he came closer, his anger subdued by his shock.

"Yep, I told him over the weekend. Greyback attacked me and we fought. Remus saved my life." Austin explained simply before heading over to a bookshelf.

Severus gripped the girls' arm and spun her around to face him, "He's mad at you because of it?"

"I'm not sure. He just doesn't know what to think about it, I guess." Austin shrugged again as she tried to pull her arm away.

"You deserve better than him." Severus whispered lowly as he pulled her closer.

Austin cocked her head to the side again and smiled softly, "What are you talkin about, Sev?"

"I mean that you deserve someone who will actually care for you. I don't want to see you get hurt." Severus scuffed the toe of his shoe on the ground.

Austin felt touched that Severus thought this way. It was always difficult for Severus to explain his feelings and even harder for him to voice them. Austin stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Severus. "Thank you, Sev, but right now he's the only one whose heart can possibly be mine to win."

Austin pulled back when she saw the time on her watch. "Do you need to be somewhere?" Severus questioned as she started gathering her things quickly into her bag.

"Yep, Ashlee is wanting to yell at me some more and I think Sirius is about to kill her last nerve." Austin shook her head before swinging her bag onto her shoulder, "I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, Austin took her leave and left Severus standing in the back of the library kicking himself.