19.

Upon reaching the common room that night Remus was happier and feeling better than he had been in a long time, Lily and Severus still wanted to be his friends and Madam Pomfrey had healed him of the awful burning feeling that had plagued him for nearly two months. He was actually smiling as he walked through the portrait hall and looked briefly around the common room, his smile abruptly vanished when something hard hit him in the side of the head and sent him to the floor; he looked up hurriedly and saw Peter with his fists raised and coming closer. Remus crawled backwards until he hit a wall and could go no farther, he didn't want to take his eyes off of Peter as he blindly searched for the stairs up to the dormitory. He watched in terror as Peter moved forward until he was looming over him with his fists raised and in one fist he held his wand.

"HOW DARE YOU TELL SOMEONE! HOW DARE YOU GET HELP! WHO TOLD YOU THAT A WEREWOLF COULD HAVE OR EVEN DESERVES MEDICAL ATTENTION?" Peter snarled at the trembling boy before him, landing a punch or a kick with every word.

Remus curled into a ball, attempting to minimize the area that Peter could hurt and trying to get away as quickly as he could. Peter noticed his attempt to get away by shifting backwards and grabbed the smaller boy's thin wrist and threw him across the room where he landed by the lit fireplace. Remus clutched his badly bruised wrist and struggled to stand, only to be sent crashing back to the floor when Peter threw a crystal ball—that was left from the fourth-years homework—and hit him square in the chest.

"You are nothing, you will always be nothing and no one could ever want to be friends with a filthy half-breed like you." Peter kicked him hard in the stomach, grinning as the boy coughed up blood onto the floor.

Remus knew then that Peter was wrong, there actually were people who wanted to be and were friends with him and they knew that he was a werewolf. Peter was wrong about that and he was wrong about him not deserving to have medical help, Peter was just simply wrong and that gave Remus the power and bravery to break through the curse placed on his tongue and speak for the first time in nearly two months. Though his voice was hoarse and slightly weak, it was firm and full of conviction.

"No, you are wrong. There are people who want to be friends with me and they know what I am, they have been my friends and will still be my friends no matter what, for they know the truth. I don't have to be proud of what I am, but I can't change it and I have accepted that I am a monster, but I am not friendless…nor am I worthless." Remus didn't notice the approach of two people, neither did he notice when they stood behind Peter; he did notice Peter's face grow increasingly more livid.

Peter lowered his wand, his mind made up to use an unforgivable on the freak that was before him, not caring that he could go to Azkaban for what he was about to do, he saw the boy flinch and he smiled as he started the incantation.

"Cru-"

"You are right Remus, you do have friends and you are not worthless, however you are wrong on one other thing…you are absolutely not a monster, Peter is." James spoke with such conviction and his words had such finality that it left no room for argument nor for doubt.

Remus's eyes widened and he peered around Peter to see both James and Sirius standing there with their wands trained on Peter. Peter had whirled around upon hearing James and was staring at them both with a mixture of disbelief and betrayal. Sirius spoke next, his voice cold and his wand unwavering from Peter.

"You will not touch him again, even though he technically is a dark creature, he is far better than you are or ever could hope to be. He would never hurt you, or any of us and yet you would torture and kill him without a second thought, you are the real monster here Peter. Not Remus." Sirius had moved closer to Remus as he spoke and he extended his hand towards the small, scared boy on the floor.

Remus cautiously took the hand offered to him, clinging to it as though it were a life-line. He stood as he was pulled to his feet; he looked at both of the boys who stood before Peter, looking at them in wonder and confusion mixed with a little hope. He was pulled out of the portrait hole and into the corridor as James and Sirius backed out of the common room, never taking their eyes or their wands from Peter. When the portrait hole closed, they all breathed a sigh of relief and Sirius turned to the stunned boy who he and James had just saved. After looking him over and deciding that there wasn't any serious damage done to the boy, he gently took hold of his shoulder and started down the corridor.

"Let's get you something to eat; you are far too thin Remus. We will have to fix that." He gulped and said softly as they continued walking "I am sorry, we both are so sorry. We should never have allowed this to happen to you, we both hope that you can forgive us and we can be friends again, even if it can't be right away."

Remus looked from one boy to the other, trying to figure out what to say. He wanted to be friends with them again and he thought that they could be, especially since they had just helped him escape from Peter. They reached the kitchens and soon had a feast spread before them; Remus ate anything and everything that he wanted, relishing how good even simple things such as apples and potatoes tasted. He finally found his voice and said rather quietly.

"I think that we can be friends, at least I want to be. I am sorry for lying to you both and keeping what I am from you, we thought it was safer that way for everyone and it was the only way that I could attend school." Remus was staring down at his plate as he finished speaking, fiddling with a piece of bacon that was tempting him to eat it.

James and Sirius smiled at each other and then at Remus, James was the one who spoke for them both this time.

"We understand that, and probably would have done the same. We really are sorry Remus…friends?"

"Friends." Remus smiled at the two boys across from him, who promptly began eating as well.

They told stories and laughed together until the wee hours of the morning, when they crept back to the tower and fell asleep, feeling as though everything was right in the world again, even if they had to be three Marauders instead of four.