Chapter 6 – Difficult Truths

After spending a good half an hour wallowing in my own misery, I finally wiped my eyes and got up. I begrudgingly left the girls bathroom and made my way towards the Gryffindor Common Room. It was nearly past curfew already so the corridors were empty. Except for me. I just hoped that Filch didn't catch me out of bed – that would NOT end well.

Climbing up the last flight of stairs, I could see the portrait of the Fat Lady. She was glaring at me, wondering why I was wondering the school at half eight at night. I stood with my hands on my hips in front of her.

"Godric." I said.

She reluctantly swung the door open, and I gave her my best withered look as I stepped through the hole. Straightening myself up, I looked around. None of the Marauders nor Lily were in the Common Room, but after asking Mary (who was painting her nails by the fire) I found out that she had gone up to boy's dormitory. Wow, I thought, has James scored already?

I slowly walked up the stairs, trying to put off telling them the truth for as long as possible. When I reached the 7th year boy's dorm, I stood still for a few seconds, taking a deep breath in, then letting it out. In, out. In out. Breathing in once more, I opened the door.

5 sets of eyes turned to look at me from where they were sitting on the floor at once. At first, their expressions were of surprise, then of dislike, then of extreme dislike. I almost stumbled backwards – I wasn't used to receiving that degree of hatred. We stayed like that for a while. Just, staring at each other. Until I cleared my throat. Better get this over with.

"Look," I started, "I know you guys are all really mad at me, and you have every right to be. I said some really horrible things." I glanced at Remus as I said that. He looked at the ground.

"But, as unreasonable as it sounds, I do have an excuse." I continued.

"What, an excuse for acting like a complete bitch?" Lily chimed in. Ouch, that hurt. The other boys (bar Remus) nodded in agreement.

"Well, yes. This may sound weird but it's about my Dad."

"We didn't ask for your life story Cattermole. Just say what you have to say and get out." James said. I felt like bursting into tears just then – James had never called me by my surname.

"Well that's just it. My name isn't really Cattermole." Confusion passed across everyone's faces. "I was adopted. You see, I lived with my Dad until I was 6, then I ran away and got taken in by another family in the village – the Cattermoles."

"Why did you run away?" Peter interjected.

"I found out something nasty about my Dad. When I was younger he was never around, and my Mum died when I was a baby. Now, one day when I was 6 I saw something really horrible happen in the field outside of my bedroom window. It was a boy, being chased," I looked at Remus again, and he looked back at me this time. "By a Werewolf."

James, Sirius, Peter and Lily all looked in shock at Remus. He blanched.

"You knew?" He said quietly, his voice full of desperation.

"Yes, but there's more." I shut my eyes. It would be easier to say without having to see their expressions. "In the morning I read the Daily Prophet, and it said that Fenrir Greyback had struck once again. But that's the thing. Fenrir Greyback, he's…." Another deep breath. "…He's my Father."

The dormitory was deathly silent, until I felt someone shove past me and the door slam. I winced and opened my eyes. James had his eyes closed, and his fists clenched. Sirius was looking up at me with shock and surprise. His mouth hung open and I had to withhold an exceedingly inappropriate giggle at how idiotic he looked. Lily was looking into space, her eyes red and wet with tears and her bottom lip was trembling. Peter still looked confused, bless him. And Remus, well, Remus must have been the one who left.

James spoke first. "I think you should leave."

I looked back at him with a hurt expression on my face. I was about to argue, but James is really scary when he's angry, so I decided to do as he says. I turned my back on my 4 classmates, and left the dormitory. Then, I ran. I wasn't really sure where I was running to, especially as it was way past curfew, but I needed to get away from them. I wasn't really sure where I stood with them – whether they'd forgiven me or not, or whether they hated me even more. I did know, however, that I needed to give them some space for a while. Finding out that the parent of one of their best friends is on the Undesirables list at the Ministry is a lot to take in.

So, I kept running. Eventually I stopped, crawling into an old disused classroom. I had no idea whereabouts in the Castle I was, but I was exhausted from running from my problems. Therefore, I did what any troubled teenager would do in this situation. I let sleep take over.