(A/N): Hey Guys! So, I wrote most of this chapter at home, but the end of it I wrote while at school. Yeah, maths was boring as hell. The real Maloney is here being all tyrannical.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Leo, Elaine, Shari and Nicholai.

Remus

I woke up the day after the full moon in the Hospital wing, sore all over, but that was pretty much the usual. I remembered what I had seen my wolf-self doing the previous night, and winced as I sat up, searching the room for Leo.

I frowned at first, upon seeing him in one of the hospital beds, but what I noticed then made me grin. Curled up to his body on the bed, his arm around her shoulders was Elaine. One arm was splayed across his chest, but his other arm was limp, and dead straight. My smiled drooped again as I saw the bandages snaking their way across his shoulder, chest, arms, and even one of his legs.

I stared at the bandages on his shoulder that concealed the bit mark I knew I had left. A few inches further, and I would've taken his head clean off. I could tell that the wounds on his chest and arms were deep furrows made by the wolf's claws, but the on his leg there was another bite, this time nowhere near as deep, only a graze of the teeth.

I knew, that he must be in a lot of pain. When I was first bitten by a werewolf, I was in agony, and not just because of the disease spreading through my veins.

I knew Leo couldn't be turned into a werewolf, but I also knew he would feel the same pain. That I had inflicted that pain on another, onto my best friend.

What sort of person was I?

I wish I had a camera .I thought absently as I watched Leo and Elaine, curled around each other, her comfortingly, him protectively. They really were the perfect pair.

Like yin and yang.

"Awake already Rems?" I heard Leo ask, his voice somewhat hoarse, and I turned my head slightly to look him in the eye.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, knowing he would hear me.

"You don't have to apologize Remmy, we've all had our moments." He glanced to Madam Pomfrey's office door, which was shut. "Moments where we've had no control over our actions." He whispered, glancing down at Elaine, before brushing a lock of hair from her cheek almost gingerly, as if he were worried he would hurt her.

"Why were they out there?" I asked him quietly, referring to Lily and the others, and he understood.

"They were just going for a walk. Don't worry Remus, they're all unharmed. Lily had a small scratch on her leg from a rock, but nothing beyond that." I turned my head to stare out of the window, across the now illuminated grounds.

"Elaine told me that they know." I didn't move, I didn't have the energy to care.

"That's nice." I said breezily, before rubbing my eyes with my fingertips. "How'd they take it?" He glanced down at Elaine, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as if he were trying to remember her exact words. Which, probably wasn't a stretch seeing as he probably had everything she said memorised by now.

"Surprisingly well. Apparently they had their suspicions about it, but weren't really sure about it until last night." I nodded slowly, taking it in, before sighing.

"You got bunged up pretty bad, didn't you? It was a stupid thing to do...but definitely a brave one."
He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had just sat by, not doing all I could to make sure the others were safe." He glanced down at Elaine again. "It's what I'm built for. Getting hurt, so the others don't have to." I remembered the words Elaine had thrown at him during the fight when she was under the trance, and the contrast was shocking when it was compared to the gentle expression on their faces now.

I knew it had killed when they fought, and I knew it would kill her when she found it out. If Leo let her find out.

"Do they know about you?" I asked, and he glanced up at me again.

"No. Didn't give them any reason to." I raised an eyebrow.

"What about your wounds? Surely they would know that no full human could stay standing with those." He smiled a small, bitter smile, before gesturing to a cloak that was dumped on the floor unceremoniously.

"I hid them. It wouldn't really do me any good to raise their suspicions, would it now?" I blinked and shook my head, thinking.

"Are you ever going to tell them?" I asked him quietly, genuinely curious.

"Maybe." He said, turning his head slightly to look out the window behind me. "If the time is right, or they find out on their own." I smiled slightly, glancing down at the thin covers of the Hospital bed, picking at the material lightly.

"I would have told them, I think. I just wish the decision hadn't been made for me." Leo frowned, staring at me.

"You-" He was cut off as Lily, James, Sirius and Peter burst through the doors, Lily launching herself at...me? She wrapped her arms around my waist, and I sat there, frozen for a second before cautiously hugging her back.

"I don't blame you Remus." Lily whispered, and from over her shoulder, I met Leo's gaze, knowing he had heard her. He heard everything.

Lily pulled away and stood with the others at the end of the bed, staring at me with a look of concern. I saw, over James's shoulder, that Elaine had jolted awake as soon as the others had burst in, and Leo was steadily avoiding looking at her, and I did the same, knowing she would be embarrassed if she knew that anyone had seen her in her vulnerable position curled to Leo's side.

(A/N): So, what did you think?

Have to go, my school laptop is running low on battery!

please review and/or check out my other stories!