Remus, against his better judgement, decided to bring his friends to his chat with Kettleburn. He knew that Kettleburn likely wanted to speak to Remus by himself, but Remus didn't really want to do that. He was tired of speaking to professors alone.

Besides: recently, Remus' friends seemed to be following him around more than they'd used to—when Remus asked James about it, he'd just shuffled his feet and said that he was worried about Remus. Remus had not wanted to hear that. "I'm fine, mate," he'd told James… but after a while, he realized that he was oddly touched that his friends cared about him so. Was he starting to enjoy pity? No, of course not—he just enjoyed spending more time with his friends. But still, the prospect of enjoying pity was mildly concerning.

Together, the Marauders tramped across mud and long grass, and it seemed like ages before they reached the Care of Magical Creatures "classroom"—a bare lot of soil, weeds, and leaves that had been trampled underfoot until it was all as flat as a sheet of parchment. Trees stretched above them, obscuring all but a few solitary streams of dappled sunlight, and the whole place smelled like musty dead leaves.

"Right, then," announced James, "where's ol' Kettle got to?"

"He's coming," said Remus. "At least I think that's him, coming out of the Forest."

"I don't see him," said Peter, squinting.

"Nor do I. But he's talking to himself, I think, and it's rather loud."

Sure enough, Kettleburn emerged from the Forest a moment later. He was holding his arm as if it was a fragile piece of glass that could break at any minute, and his steps were slightly uneven. He nodded at the Marauders enthusiastically. "Top of the evening!" he shouted. "Is Lupin here, then?"

"Yes," said all four Marauders in unison. Remus gave his friends a suspicious look. "That's me," said all four Marauders in unison once again.

Kettleburn laughed. Now that he was in close vicinity, Remus could see no less than ten Bowtruckles crawling up and down his arm on their spindly legs. "Ah, yes, they told me about you. The Marauders, hm? It's all right, I know which one Lupin is. That's you, isn't it?"

Remus looked up, alarmed. Sure enough, Kettleburn was pointing directly at him. "How did you know?" Remus asked, unable to stop himself. "Did Max tell you?"

Kettleburn laughed again. "Ah, Max! That dog is extremely clever. No. Everyone knows who you are, boy! You four are very popular, you know, especially amongst the staff."

"I know," said James proudly, puffing out his chest.

"I know," said Remus sadly, looking at the ground.

"Now, Lupin, I wanted to… they do know, correct? Your friends?"

"Yes, my friends know that I'm a werewolf," said Remus uncomfortably. He thought he'd never get used to saying the word werewolf in front of perfect strangers.

"I thought I heard Pomfrey talking about that, yes. It was quite the thing among the staff when they found out. Rumors, you know—stories among students, especially you four, liven up a dull school day considerably. Well, I just wanted to figure some things out with you, Lupin. Questus wrote to me last year, you know."

"He did?" said Remus faintly.

"Yes. Terrible shame, what happened to him. I'm very sorry."

"Thanks." Remus found he didn't know what to say to things like that. What was he supposed to say? Would "me too" be better, he wondered? Perhaps he'd try that one next time.

"Anyway, Questus said that he was discussing magical creatures with you. They can sense your lycanthropy, yes? He asked me if there was anything that we could do about that. He suggested drugging the magical creatures, of course, but I shall not agree to that in this life nor the next."

Remus chuckled. That sounded exactly like something Questus would say. "Is there?" he asked. "Something we can do about it, I mean."

"Well, that's what I plan to find out today! You're all right with your friends being here, yes?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Kettleburn took a few steps towards Remus, now uncomfortably close. "Go on, then."

"Er… what?"

"Take a Bowtruckle, of course! Pluck one right off my arm—they don't usually mind."

"But… sir, they… I mean, they won't like it…"

"You've got to show them who's in charge, that's all. Come on!"

Remus tentatively reached out and tried to touch one of the Bowtruckles, but they immediately moved away and started crawling on Kettleburn's neck. "Ah, that tickles, that does," hissed Kettleburn. "You're right. They really don't like you. Here, I'll help you out a bit." With that, Kettleburn picked up one of the smaller Bowtruckles and placed it on Remus' left shoulder. The points of its spindly legs lightly dug into the eight-and-a-half-year-old wound, and Remus panicked. He instinctively shooed the creature off his arm; it fell to the ground and collapsed in the dirt.

"I'm sorry!" Remus cried, horrified. The year, so far, was not off to a great start. "I panicked! Is it okay?!"

Kettleburn laughed. "He's fine; he's only being dramatic. He's fallen from much higher heights than that. Come on, Jason, get up—oh, it appears he's playing dead." Kettleburn leaned over and plucked the creature off the ground. "He's fine, Lupin. Are you afraid of Bowtruckles?"

"No," admitted Remus, "not really. But… I, er…"

"He's afraid of claws," said Peter helpfully.

"And he hurt that shoulder a while ago," lied James.

"And he's a coward," said Sirius.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I'm not scared of Bowtruckles," he repeated emphatically, shooting a dirty look at Sirius.

"Good, good." Kettleburn was chuckling now. "I like you boys. Here, let's try again—may I put it in your hand, instead?"

"Sure."

Remus held out his cupped hands, and Kettleburn gingerly set a new Bowtruckle into them… this time, the Bowtruckle jumped and scuttled away as fast as its legs could carry it. "Yes, that is a problem," said Kettleburn thoughtfully. "They're normally quite skittish, but this is something quite different. The thing is terrified of you, isn't it?"

Remus nodded, ashamed. "I can't help it. I haven't done anything to them."

"Of course you haven't. Are all animals frightened around you?"

"No, sir. Only certain magical ones."

"Ah, that makes sense. Some magical animals can sense magic like non-magical animals can sense the slightest of smells."

Remus shuffled his feet, trying not to be offended that Kettleburn had essentially called him an animal.

"Can werewolves sense magic, then?" asked Kettleburn, and then immediately repented. "You don't have to answer that, Lupin. Forgive me if it was blunt. I'm only curious."

"I can't," said Remus, "and it's fine. I spent a year and a half with Professor Questus, so I should say I'm used to blunt questions by now."

"Right, of course! Yes, you should have heard all the werewolf facts that he was sharing during staff meetings. Absolutely enthralled, that man." Kettleburn smiled and shook his head, and Remus felt a lump rising up in his throat. "Now," continued Kettleburn, "what do you think would happen if we gave the creatures a bit of time to get used to you? Would they learn, eventually, that you pose no threat? Or do you somehow magically repel them regardless of how much time they've spent with you?"

"I… don't know. How would knowing that help, though? Unless you're planning on training every single animal to like me before class…"

"No, no, of course not. You're right. But it might diffuse suspicion if the students see one or two animals behaving themselves around you."

"Perhaps," allowed Remus.

"Let's experiment, shall we? I'll let you take that Bowtruckle back to your dormitory, and you can keep it for a full month. In fact, I'll even get permission from your teachers so that you can bring it to class. Keep her with you as much as possible. If she starts liking you, then at least we know that it's an animal's first instinct to avoid you instead of a persisting one. We can proceed from there and figure things out as we go! But we do need a diagnosis of sorts."

Remus looked away, equal parts embarrassed and reluctant. "But I'll torture it," he said.

"Ridiculous. Bowtruckles enjoy a bit of danger. It'll be like eating vegetables—unpleasant, but healthy. Besides, you're not hurting him. People worry about scaring animals too much—magical animals are hardy. They can take care of themselves." Kettleburn flicked up an eyebrow and grinned. "Unless you meant that you plan to torture him literally… in that case, I can't in good conscience give you the Bowtruckle."

Sirius, James, and Peter laughed; Remus shook his head so vehemently that he nearly got a headache. "No, no. No. I'd never."

"That's what I thought! Now, go on, take Francine. She's a brave one. She likes adventure. Hold on tight, now—best not let her run away—it's a good job you're already wearing gloves!"

Remus gripped Francine lightly; she scuttled and squirmed, trying to escape his clutches. Remus rarely felt so much of a monster in broad daylight. "I'm not sure I like this, Professor," he murmured.

"Don't worry about it, Lupin! Francine'll be fine, trust me. And you can just say that you're doing an extra research assignment for me if people ask why you have a Bowtruckle. In the meantime, why don't you try to avoid the creatures during my class? I always try to let everyone get hands-on experience, but I'm afraid it would be unwise in this situation."

Remus didn't take his eyes off Francine. She looked so panicked. Remus was tempted to call the whole thing off and drop Care of Magical Creatures altogether, but his parents had already spent so much money on books and supplies. "What do Bowtruckles eat, Professor?" he asked.

"A good question! Here's a canister of woodlice—dead, of course. Just give her a pinch while you eat your own meals. And come to me with any questions, of course!" Kettleburn shot Remus a smile and handed James the canister. "Potter can hold this. You appear to have your hands full. Oh, and do you have any other pets?"

"I have a toad named Bufo. James and Sirius both have owls."

"Excellent! Both toads and owls pose no threat to Bowtruckles. You do need to watch out for cats, though."

"All right," whispered Remus, suddenly feeling terrified about the sheer responsibility of caring for a creature's life. Bufo always kept to himself, but this Bowtruckle would need constant care...

"Well, that's all I have for you," said Professor Kettleburn, "though I might test you out on some of the more dangerous creatures later in the year so that I can get a feel for how much of a distance you'll need to keep. Enjoy your afternoon."

Remus nodded, his eyes still glued to the terrified Bowtruckle in his hands. "I'm sorry for being so much trouble," he said. "I wouldn't have taken this course if I'd known that I'd cause you so much more work—"

"Don't be ridiculous! I always enjoy it when students have an interest in my class, and I see this as an opportunity for additional research in my subject, which is something I enjoy very much. I appreciate the extra lengths you're going yourself, Lupin. John Questus has said good things about you, you know—I'd be right disappointed if I never got to teach you. Run along, now! Don't lose that Bowtruckle—but don't worry if you do. Francine knows the way home. Oh, and keep her in a drawer at night. She loves dark, enclosed spaces."

"Like a Boggart."

"Yes, like a Boggart! I hear you're very good with Boggarts!"

"This is getting boring," grumbled Sirius. "I thought we'd be seeing Remus fight dragons or something, not hold a stick-ant-thing."

"I agree. See you, Silvanus!" called James.

With that, James took Remus by the arm and yanked him away from the Care of Magical Creatures area. Remus held tightly to Francine the whole time. "He seems nice," said Peter.

"Yes, he does." Remus was still staring at Francine. She was trying even harder to escape now. He recalled the image of Kettleburn, covered from wrist to shoulder in adoring Bowtruckles—it was such a small thing, but it was yet another thing that Remus could not do because of his species, and Remus once again felt very left-out. "I feel like a monster, James," he said quietly. "Look. She's so scared."

James stopped in his tracks. "You're not a monster," he said.

"Will be in a week and a half."

"But you aren't right now." James slung his arm around Remus' shoulder (the right one) and grinned. "I don't think she's scared of you, actually. I reckon she's just hopping excited to get to know you."

Remus couldn't help it—he dissolved into hysterical laughter. "For someone who's going out for Seeker in a few years, your eyes are not very good," he managed.

"Oi! Don't insult the disabled!"

"Yeah, Moony," said Sirius, ruffling James' hair. "No fair to insult James. He has a very rare disease."

"Which is?" prodded Remus.

"Arrogant-git-itis. Makes his head inflate. Affects his eyesight."

"Ah, I see. In that case, I sincerely apologize, James."

"Apology not accepted," sniffed James, and Remus kicked his ankle playfully.

He glanced back at Francine. It really was much better if he imagined her as excited instead of terrified. And everything would be better once she was safe in his drawer upstairs. Maybe Francine and Remus could even be the best of friends. This could be fun.

Leave it to James to put a positive spin on things, thought Remus. He smiled at James, but James was too busy picking pebbles off the ground and throwing them at Sirius to notice.

Francine sat on Remus' lap that afternoon while he read the chapter that Dilley had assigned. She was not any less terrified of him, it seemed, but Peter was keeping her calm by patting her head while she perched on Remus' knee. Remus was reading the chapter aloud for Peter, who always seemed to focus better that way. James was somewhere on the grounds, flying his broomstick, and Sirius was who-knows-where (probably wherever James was).

"She's calming down," said Peter. "This could work. You hold her, and I calm her. Eventually, she'll associate calmness with you."

"That won't work all the time, though, and I can't hold her twenty-four-seven. What will I do in classes? If I put her on a desk, then she'll just run away."

"You know that transparent sandwich container that I brought on the train to hold the ham-and-cheese that my mum made me?"

"Sure."

"We can put a few holes in it, and you can carry around Francine in there."

Remus considered that. "That sounds like cruelty to me, but I'll owl Kettleburn and see what he thinks of it. Good idea, Peter."

Peter beamed. "May I hold Francine for a second?"

"Sure. I reckon she's tired of me."

"I reckon she's been tired of you since she first laid eyes on you," cracked Peter. Remus grinned at Peter's unexpected boldness—Peter didn't always work up the courage to tease his friends, especially about matters such as this. Peter plucked Francine off of Remus' knee; she immediately snuggled against the crook of his arm and climbed up to his shoulder.

"She likes you," said Remus. He couldn't say he wasn't jealous.

"She does!" Peter let Francine climb all across his shoulders and chest before putting her back on Remus' knee. Francine deflated and tried to run away, but Peter held her there. "It's only 'cos you're a werewolf, you know," Peter said thoughtfully. "It's got nothing to do with you. Like, your personality or anything."

"It's precisely because I'm a werewolf that I feel so awful about the whole thing. I know it's got nothing to do with my personality. Why would it? If she likes you, then…" Remus trailed off and bit his tongue, horrified. He'd almost made a joke at Peter's expense. He'd almost said that if Francine liked Peter, then she'd like anybody—he hadn't meant it in the way that it was going to sound; he didn't truly believe that Peter was inferior to the rest of the population in any way… he'd only been spending too much time around James and Sirius, who made jokes like that all the time. That was all. Oh, Remus felt a bit ill. "I mean… if she likes you, then why wouldn't she like me? We're similar in a lot of ways." There. That was much kinder.

"We are?" said Peter, evidently pleased. Remus didn't know why he was pleased to be anything like Remus, but he would take what he could get.

"Yes, of course. You're my best mate. Why wouldn't we be similar?"

"I suppose we're both Marauders. And we're the quiet Marauders, sort of."

"Definitely," agreed Remus. "And we're responsible. More so than James and Sirius, anyhow."

"And we're neither of us athletic or brilliant geniuses… oh, I didn't mean…"

Remus laughed. "No, it's fine. I know I'm not a brilliant genius. And if you think I'm athletic, then something's seriously wrong with you. I'd blow over with a light breeze." Peter seemed to think that this was very funny. He blew a gust of air in Remus' face, and Remus grabbed onto the bedpost in mock terror. "Careful there! That one nearly knocked me to Australia."

Peter wheezed, amused, and then there was a contented moment of silence.

"Where do you transform?" asked Peter.

Remus really did have to hold onto the bedpost that time. "What did you say?"

"Where do you transform? I mean, you can't do it in the dormitory. We'd've noticed."

"Sirius and James can sometimes be very unobservant," pointed out Remus, still shaken.

Peter laughed as a formality, but he didn't change the subject. "Remus, come on. You can tell me. I just… want to… feel safe, you know?"

"Do you…" Remus swallowed thickly. There seemed to be a buzzing in his ears. "You don't feel safe around me?"

"No! No, that's not what I meant at all. It's just… James and Sirius and me sometimes want to sneak out after dark on full moon days, but we don't know where you are and we don't want to come across you in… that state. Well, James and Sirius do, actually. Sometimes they go out of their way to look for you. But I don't! So if you tell me, then I won't tell them, but I'll gently steer them away from wherever you are…"

Remus blanched. "They're looking for me?! Oh, no. Absolutely not. I'm going to Dumbledore. If they won't stay in their dormitories, then Dumbledore can make them!"

"No! Remus, just tell me where you are. You know I'd never go there without your permission."

"No, I can't! I… you don't understand… if you know, then…" Remus swallowed again. His throat was very dry, for some reason. "Peter, I trust you, I really do, it's just… you realize what I could do, yes? I could kill you. I could kill you all. I would murder you in cold blood and I wouldn't feel any remorse till morning. And then I'd remember the whole thing, too… and I'd be executed and Mum and Dad would… well, I don't know what they'd do. Peter, it has to be secret."

"I'm not dumb enough to go looking for a transformed werewolf, Remus. I love you and all, but I'm dead terrified of you." Remus was a little taken aback by Peter's bluntness. He must have looked the part, because Peter went red and then quickly tried to amend his statement. "I mean… well, not you, but…."

"No," said Remus firmly, shaking his head. "You were right. You should be." He sighed. It might actually decrease the chances of his friends coming across Remus in his transformed state if Remus told Peter, mightn't it? Fiddlesticks. Remus would tell Peter. He'd never been good at keeping his composure under peer pressure. "Fine. I… the Shrieking Shack. Hogsmeade. That's where… that's where I transform. There's a secret passageway under the Whomping Willow, but I won't tell you how to get into it."

Peter was silent for a few moments.

Remus was silent, too. He held his breath.

"So," said Peter, and Remus waited for him to connect the dots. "So the screaming noises that the town hears… are all you?"

"Yes."

"It really hurts, doesn't it? To transform into a wolf?"

"…Yes."

"Blimey, mate. I'm sorry."

Remus shrugged half-heartedly. "It's just my life."

There was another moment of silence, but this one was considerably more awkward.

"You know what this means, right?" said Peter.

"It means you have to promise never to tell James and Sirius."

Peter laughed. "It means that James was right, back in our first year. He said that there was a werewolf in the Shrieking Shack. He was actually right!"

Remus remembered that all too well. He pretended to push spectacles further up his nose and ruffled his hair in an imitation of James. "James Potter is always right," he said loftily, and then he and Peter started laughing so hard that they nearly squished Francine.

AN: Missed another update! Bad health day. Sorry guys :/