Chapter 3: We'll Stand by You

Our first year pasted quickly, and soon James, Remus, Peter and I were all in our second year. Things were going good for us. We were all known as being trouble makers and pranksters, especially James and I. Unfortunately, James and I were also bullies, and most students didn't mess with us. Remus desperately tried to control us, but we didn't listen to him. Today, I regret my actions.

Everything was going good, except one thing. Once a month, Remus would disappear. None of us were sure where he went, and we frequently heard nasty rumors about him. James, Peter and I really missed him, and after awhile, became concerned.

One evening, the four of us were sitting in the Gryffindor common room. Remus had just gotten back from one of his disappearances and was trying to catch up on homework, while James, Peter, and I attempted to do our current homework, without much success.

"Hey, Remus?" James asked suddenly.

"Hmm?" answered Remus without looking up from his transfiguration book.

"Where do you go every month?"

Remus stiffened. He slowly lifted his head to look at us. "I'm just sick, that's all." He said simply.

"But it's always during a full moon." I commented. "Why do you always getsick on a full moon, without fail?"

"I JUST DO, ALRIGHT?" Remus yelled. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed." And with that, Remus gathered his books and stormed off towards the dorms.

James, Peter, and I looked at each other. Remus very rarely got upset, and when he did, he never took it out on us before, or at least not until now. It was very concerning.

Next, we turned to Dumbledore. While Remus was in the common room doing homework like the good student he was – and we weren't - James, Peter, and I went to Dumbledore's office and timidly knocked on the door.

"Come in." said Dumbledore's voice from inside.

Now, this was the year 1972, so Dumbledore looked fairly younger than you know him now. He still had that white beard, but at that time, it didn't go farther than his chest. The rest of his hair was shorter too, going down slightly past the shoulders. Other than that, Dumbledore looked pretty much the same, except for maybe a few less wrinkles on his old skin.

"What can I do for you, boys?" asked Dumbledore in his calm, soothing voice.

"We have a question for you, Professor." James said timidly. If James was ever daunted by anyone, it definitely would have been Dumbledore.

"Oh?" said Dumbledore. "Then you boys should sit down and plan to stay awhile."

James laughed nervously, and we all pulled up a chair and placed them right in front of Dumbledore's big armchair.

"Now, what seems to be the trouble?" asked Dumbledore.

"We were wondering, Professor, where Remus Lupin goes during a full moon." answered James.

Dumbledore frowned. "I don't seem to know what you're talking about, Mr. Potter. Your friend Remus is a good boy who completes his studies in a timely manner. Why would he go anywhere during a full moon?"

"That's just the trouble, Professor Dumbledore." I said. "Every time, there is a full moon, Remus disappears, and we don't see him for several days."

Once again, Dumbledore frowned. "If what you say is true, then I'm sure Remus would tell you where he goes if he wished to do so. For now, I would advise you stop worrying about it."

James sighed. Discouraged, we left Dumbledore's office.

"What do we do now?" I asked on the way back to Gryffindor common room.

"There's only one thing we can do." James answered. "And that is, next time there's a full moon, we'll use my invisibility cloak to follow Remus. He'll never know."

"But what is Dumbledore's right? What if Remus doesn't want us to know?" Asked Peter quietly.

James stared at him. "We're his friends, why wouldn't he want us to know. Besides, we have a right to know what's going on. What if he's in danger?"

Peter didn't reply. Together, we climbed the stairs to Gryffindor tower and went to bed.

Several weeks later, we all were getting ready to go to sleep when James and I noticed Remus was looking anxiously at the calendar hanging on the wall.

"I have to go talk to Dumbledore." Remus said quickly, even though it was almost ten-thirty at night, and bolted out the door.

"Quick!" whispered James, and he slipped his invisibility cloak out from under his bed. "Now's our chance."

Peter and I silently slipped under the cloak, and we dashed out the door to follow our friend. Eugene Fritzerald was already asleep, so we didn't have to worry about him tattling on us.

We searched the entire castle for Remus. We even the school grounds and the Forbidden Forest, but had no luck. Just when we gave up and gloomily began to walk back to the castle, I froze, causing the cloak to fall off my shoulders.

"Sirius, what are you doing?" James hissed. "Get back under here!"

"Shh!" I hissed back, and began to listen intently. I have always had a very good sense of smell and hearing, which is probably one of the reasons why my Animagius is a dog. Sure enough I heard the sound again.

"OW-ROOO-ROOO-ROOOOOO! OW-OW-ROOOOOOOO!" It was the howl of a sad, lonely animal in pain.

James and Peter heard it too. "What's that?" Peter squeaked.

"Let's go see." James said, and I once again joined my friends under the cloak.

We were fast approaching the Whomping Willow, a tree that had been planted the year before. We could tell the sound was coming from the tree, but we were scared to continue. However, none of us would admit it, so we slowly advanced toward the willow."

"Stop right there!" a sharp voice behind us snapped. "I know you three are out there, and for your own safety, you must stop walking towards that willow and show yourselves immediately."

We froze at the sound of Dumbledore's voice. We knew we were in trouble, and terrified of Dumbledore's consequences, whatever they happened to be.

"James…Sirius…Peter." Dumbledore said our names slowly and carefully. "It is extremely important you listen to me. Both you and Remus will regret the following consequences if you don't. If you do choose to listen, there will be no consequences, I promise you."

Reluctantly, James removed the cloak.

Dumbledore smiled. "Very wise decision, James."

"Please, Professor, can you explain what's going on?"

Dumbledore sighed. "If you boys would, kindly come with me to my office, I will do my best."

Once in Dumbledore's office, James couldn't stand any longer. "Professor Dumbledore, you have to tell us what's going on with Remus. Please."

Dumbledore did not say a word. Instead, he got a large book down from one of the shelves. "I don't have permission from Remus to tell exactly what goes on in the Whomping Willow. But I can give you this book. It contains all of the creatures, magical and non-magical, known to the wizarding world. You are clever students, so I am sure you will be able to find what you are looking for. I will let you borrow this on one condition."

"And what's that?" James asked eagerly.

Dumbledore smiled at James's enthusiasm. "I will give you this book if, and only if all three of you promise not to tell a single soul about your discovery."

"I solemnly swear not to tell anyone or anything about our discovery about Remus." James said proudly. James loved the phrase "I solemnly swear" and used it whenever possible. When Dumbledore looked at Peter and me, we quickly nodded in agreement. Dumbledore handed the book to us, and then we climbed the stairs to our dorm.

Once at the dorm, we were all exhausted, so we decided to wait until the next day to start reading. However, no matter how hard I tried, I could not get to sleep. So, I brought the book to my bed and hid under the covers so I wouldn't wake anyone up. Then, I made a light glow from my wand and began to read.

Looking at the table of contents, I saw there were about one hundred and twenty different creatures listed in the book, and they all were listed in alphabetical order. I decided to check the ones that I thought fit my friend and start with those. The creature that caught my eye was werewolf. Seeing that the chapter on werewolves started on page 287, I flipped to the correct page and began to read.

Chapter One Hundred and Three: Werewolves

Introduction: Werewolves are humans who transform into wolves at every full moon. They can be very vicious and uncontrollable in their wolf form, and will attack any human nearby, whether they want to or not. A human becomes a werewolf when they are bitten by one, it they are not killed first. Only humans are susceptible to becoming a werewolf, as other animals are not affected by a werewolf's bite, for reasons unknown to mankind. Most wizards infected with a bite from a werewolf turn to dark magic, but some may peacefully live among wizards. However, no matter which side the turn to, people often discriminate werewolves. Because of this, it is nearly impossible for a werewolf to find a job within the wizarding community.

Description: In their human form, werewolves look like any other human. In their wolf form, they look like a normal European or North American wolf, depending on the region of origin, except for the fact that they are a lot bigger.

Common Signs of Diagnosis: Werewolves always transform during a full moon, during which they must be kept away from humans at all costs. If there are no humans to bite, werewolves may turn on themselves. As a result, some werewolves may have cuts and bruises, especially on their joints and limbs. A lone werewolf often howls from loneliness and pain from its wounds. Werewolves are often reluctant to share their secrets with even their closest friends, and they're always on alert, being careful not to let that secret out. Some may be anxious and edgy, especially before and after a full moon. Sometimes, werewolves are withdrawn from the people who care about them and are only trying to help.

After finishing the page, I couldn't help but gasp. Remus was a werewolf! The description in the book fit him perfectly, yet I just couldn't believe it. Shocked, it let my wand go out and placed the book back where I got it. Hoping I could now go back to sleep, I climbed back into bed.

Now, I was having even more trouble sleeping than before. A thousand questions soared through my head. Why hadn't Remus told us? We were his best friends. How would he react if he found out we knew? More, importantly, how would James react when I told him what I had discovered? I knew I would always be friends with Remus, no matter what, but sadly, I had no idea about James. I considered not telling him but decided against it. That would not be a wise decision on my part. One thing was for certain: I was not telling anyone besides James and Peter about it. I would not betray my friend.

The following morning, Eugene Fritzerald was the first one up and out the door. Once he was gone, I quickly woke my friends, and we went downstairs to breakfast. We were there so earlier, half of the Great Hall was empty.

"Why were you in such a hurry to get down here today, Sirius?" James asked once we were seated in our usually places.

"Shh! Not so loud!" I hissed, ignoring James as he gave me a funny look. "I know what's up with Remus!"

"Really? What?" James asked enthusiastically as he took a sip of his orange juice.

I leaned across the table so only he and Peter would hear me.

"He's a werewolf." I whispered.

James began to choke on his juice as Peter stared at me with his jaw dropped.

"WHAT?" exclaimed James when he had recovered. "You can't be serious, Sirius." Peter snorted as he tried to hold in a laugh.

I glared at him. "This isn't a laughing matter, Peter. And lower your voice James."

"Sorry." James whispers. "It's just… it can't be… not Remus… it's impossible… w-why wouldn't he tell us?" James stammered, clearly in shock.

"I don't know." I said sadly. "But we can't let this change our friendship with Remus. He needs us. "

"Of course he does!" James exclaimed, and then lowered his voice again. "Why would his being a werewolf change anything? He was a werewolf last year on the train, right? We can't desert him now."

That day, we decided the best thing to do would be to confront Remus and prove to him we would always be his friend, no matter who – or what – he was.

Two days later, Remus returned. He was his normal self, which worked to our advantage. Although, we were nervous, James, Peter, and I decided it was time to tell him we knew the secret he was trying so hard to hide from us.

"Remus… can we talk to you for a minute before we go to breakfast?" James asked nervously.

Remus frowned, clearly puzzled. "Um… sure." He said, his voice full of uncertainty.

"Remus, we know you lie to us every time we ask you where you go every month. We've always known that. But now, we know the truth."

Remus began to shake, a clear sign of his nervousness. "You do?"

"Yes." Said James quietly. "It's because, you're a werewolf, isn't it?"

Remus shook even harder, and closed his eyes. "Give me a second." He said so quietly, he was barely audible.

Remus collapsed on the bed a buried his face in his hands. James and I looked anxiously at each other, and then weakly watched as Remus inhaled and exhaled a total of ten times before he opened his eyes again. "Ok, I'm ready." He said with a sigh.

"Ready for what?" I asked softly.

"I'm ready for you guys to tell me you don't want to be my friends anymore. That your parents won't allow it, or you just can't stand being friends with a monster." Remus replied.

"Remus, you are not a monster!" shouted James angrily. "Why would you say that about yourself?"

Remus weakly lifted his head to look at James. I could tell he was struggling not to cry in front of us. "No James, you're wrong. When I was little, I was bitten by Fenrir Greyback, another werewolf. My parents did everything they could for me, but nothing helped. When I transform, if I were to bite any one of you, I would turn you into a monster too, or worse, kill you. That makes me a monster. I'm dangerous, and don't belong here, but Dumbledore insisted I came and got an education. That's why they planted the Whomping Williow. It's there to keep my isolated from humans, as I should be. You guys should tell Dumbledore to expel me. You don't deserve to be around a monster like me, let alone be my friend."

"Remus, that's not true!" James argued loudly. "We'll never tell Dumbledore expel you. Ever. And we'll always be friends, no matter what. There's nothing you can do to change that."

"Are you sure?" asked Remus. "And you won't tell anybody?"

"Of course I'm sure!" exclaimed James just as I said, "Why would we tell someone?"

Remus smiled. "Thanks, guys." he said, and together we went down to breakfast.

Several days later, we asked Remus what it was like to transform.

"It's very lonely, being out there all by myself, and painful, too. I attack myself, since there are no humans to bite." Remus replied with a frown.

"That sounds horrible!" I exclaimed. "I wish there was something we could do."

"Maybe there is." James said quietly.

Remus and I both stared at him. "What do you mean?" asked Remus.

"I don't really know. But I'll think of something." Said James, his voice full of determination.

Knowing James, he would. We would stand by Remus, and we would find a way.

Author's note: I meant to be done with this days ago, but as you can see, it's really long for me (the longest chapter I've ever wrote, in fact.) and it took a long time (It takes up 7 word pages). I hope it was worth the wait though. Remember, reviews are ALWAYS greatly appreciated.