Author's note: Well guys, I am back on this site! This story used to be called Shifting Lines, I changed the title to Four To The End because I never really cared for the SL title and it never really fit. Anyway. Hopefully y'all here on FFN enjoy this!

CW for very brief mention of sexual assault (nothing detailed), and mentions of racism.

X

Remus had gotten a letter from home on Tuesday morning, but hadn't opened it yet. Partially due to needing to get to Arithmancy earlier, and partially due to the fact he simply didn't want to read it. But by his afternoon free period he decided he shouldn't wait any longer and opened up the envelope, trying to prepare himself for whatever his mother had to say.

There was a brief message of condolences about Arthur, and then three pages full of frantic writing begging Remus to come home for the holidays and to forgive Lyall.

He pressed the back of his head against the wall where he was sitting, squeezing his eyes shut. His chest began aching as the memories swirled in his head. It had only been a few days, not even a week! Did his mother expect him to simply forgive and forget so quickly? At least he'd be seeing Miss Fawley that evening and perhaps she'd have some insight…

Except when he went in to see her, he had no idea how to even begin explaining everything. All the hurt and pain… part of him wanted to keep it locked away and private, except he couldn't really keep much of anything from her. Still, when she asked how things were going he told her about Arthur first, not wanting to get into his parents.

Miss Fawley's face fell and she hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry, my dear. I am so, so sorry. Arthur was such a good owl." She stroked his hair, resting her cheek against the top of his head. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No," he sniffled, pressing against her. "But th-thank you. We buried him in the Forbidden Forest."

He waited to see what she would say to that. She knew they went into the forest on multiple occasions but this felt different. "I think that was a good idea," she said, pulling back a little.

"Sirius made a headstone. It just says 'AL' on it because he didn't want my name connected to something in the forest where we aren't supposed to be."

"Sirius is a clever boy."

Remus wiped his damp eyes on his sleeve. "I don't think my parents care."

"I'm sure they do—"

"He hasn't said anything, and she was too upset over other things to say much. Only two sentences, and one of them was 'I know you cared about that owl'." He lifted his chin. "'That owl'."

Fawley cupped her hand against his cheek. "You said she was upset about other things. Sometimes when our mind is consumed by another problem, we don't think about what we say sometimes."

"Her mind was consumed by what happened Thursday. With me." She frowned now, tilting her head. "We talked. I told them I knew the truth."

"Oh."

"They came to the school. He… he was mad." For some reason Remus couldn't bear to say the term 'dad' at the moment. "He kept insisting he never blamed me, while simultaneously blaming me. He—he said that he altered my memory to help me bear the trauma."

"Some parents do that," Fawley said hesitantly.

"How can I know if it's the truth?" Remus demanded, his tears beginning to stream down his cheeks. "How do I know he isn't lying to make himself look better? What if he did that to my memory so I wouldn't remember the things said, so I wouldn't find out he wanted to kill all werewolves?"

"Do you want to talk about what he said?"

He slowly nodded, taking her hand and putting it to his forehead. "It would be easier to show you, if you don't mind seeing and hearing it."

"As long as you're comfortable showing me."

"You'd probably see it anyway." Soon they were both there, watching as Remus and Lyall argued and fought and shouted, and Lyall hit Remus. At the time Remus had felt more mature, but looking back he could see he looked like nothing but a scared little boy.

When the memory ended, Fawley put her arms around him again, practically pulling him into her lap as she rocked him gently. "You didn't deserve that," she said firmly. "You didn't deserve any of that."

"Mum's already w-wanting me to forgive him." Remus nestled against her, breathing in her familiar lavender scent. "As if it didn't matter."

"I think your mother can't bear the thought of you being angry. You have every right to be angry, though. I can't speak for her, but from my perspective it seems as though she can't believe or really understand what happened. Regardless of why your father put the spell on you, I think she really believed it was the right thing to do for you."

"I—I think so too, I don't—she—I know she loves me, I know she w-wants what is best—best for me." He closed his eyes, focusing on the feeling of being held instead of the memories. "I don't want to go home for the holidays."

Miss Fawley didn't say anything for a moment or two. "If your parents demand you come home unfortunately you would have to, as they have control over you. It doesn't sound as if she is demanding it, or that they will go to those lengths. I think as long as you stand your ground, you won't need to do anything you don't want to do." She ran her fingers through his hair. "If you like, you could come stay with me over the holidays."

Remus's eyes snapped wide open and he was flooded with a happy warmth. Stay with Miss Fawley? For Christmas? His heart began beating fast at the idea and his entire body ached to say yes. Except… "I don't know." He peeled away from her, rubbing his face. "I want to," he added before she could say anything else. "I really do. But I know my f-father doesn't like you very much and I don't want to cause more problems. They might be fine with me staying at Hogwarts, but I dunno if they'd appreciate me going to your—to your house, though I truly wish I could."

She carded her fingers through his hair again, her fingernails lightly scratching his scalp which sent pleasant tingles through his body; it made him feel safe and comforted. "You're probably right about that."

"If… if you can visit over… the holidays… if you want to—"

"Of course I'll come visit you," she promised, smiling. "We can continue our lessons if you like."

"I would, yes."

He felt better knowing she believed him, and was on his side. He knew she would be but there was always the fear of the adults banding together.

They didn't do a lesson that evening because of everything; she was worried he was still too emotionally distraught. Instead, she conjured up some tea and sweets, and they talked about other things. He told her about his Marauder essay, and also of the girl leaving a lipstick mark on his cheek. She laughed and said it sounded like she had done it on purpose which Remus agreed with. He also admitted his fears about the upcoming essays. She didn't tell him that he was brilliant and would do fine. Instead, she told him it was understandable to be scared, but that he should trust in his own abilities.

Finally, when their hour was up, something else occurred to him and he turned around to face her. "Erm, I have a question. About—about the others. The Marauders I mean. Are they… up to something? With trying to… help me, I mean. You had to have known about the potion they finished earlier this month…" He had this feeling in the back of his head something was going on with them, even if he didn't have any evidence.

"I did," she said. "And I am keeping whatever secret they have asked me to keep."

"They are planning something, then."

She held her hands out, palms upward. "All I can say is James and Peter both have secrets they've asked me to keep, just as you have secrets I am keeping. Whether they involve you or not, I cannot confirm."

He tried not to groan but knew it was, unfortunately, fair. "All right, thank you."

He returned to the secret passage, both annoyed and relieved to find only Peter there, as James had detention that night as well. As Pete got up, he told Remus that Sirius (who had come with them) had left 'ages' ago to spend time with Cassie. Pete left and Remus sank down onto the floor, getting his homework out to do. He did have some jealousy, however he also felt pleased at having a full hour to himself without any interruptions at all.

Except after half an hour he heard loud noises outside. He opened the entrance a crack and peered out to see some older students fighting. A Gryffindor and a Slytherin. They were sixth or seventh years, and both of them looked positively livid. They were hurling insults at one another, though Remus wasn't really sure what set it off. Then the Gryffindor got his wand out and the Slytherin tried to follow suit, but the Gryffindor disarmed him quickly. The Gryffindor then began attacking the Slytherin. Remus almost gasped, covering his mouth as the Gryffindor used some nasty hexes on the Slytherin. The Slytherin shrieked, falling back and writhing on the floor as pustules bubbled up on his skin and burst into smoke, leaving burns along his skin. He sobbed, begging the Gryffindor to stop but the Gryffindor kept it up for a few more minutes before stopping.

He tilted his head, studying the Slytherin who was panting and moaning. "Next time you'll think twice," he said, kicking at the Slytherin's leg, causing him to let out another whimper.

Then he took the Slytherin's wand and used the same hex. He shot it at the wall before crouching down and wrapping the Slytherin's hand around the wand. Remus wasn't sure if the Slytherin even noticed.

Then the Gryffindor began doing hexes on himself. He walked off before Remus could see everything he did to himself, but Remus knew he was setting the Slytherin up to be the aggressor.

Remus looked at the Slytherin on the ground, not sure what to do. If he ran off and found someone… well, he was supposed to be in the hospital wing right now, not on the fourth floor. He supposed he could try to sneak to the hospital wing and find Pomfrey but—

Suddenly there was another shout and then the Gryffindor appeared again, sobbing as he limped down the corridor, with Professor McGonagall trailing after him. The Gryffindor began accusing the Slytherin of attacking him and the Slytherin tried to get up, insisting he was the victim. The Gryffindor then thrust his wand at McGonagall, telling her he could prove he was 'only doing the shield spell'.

McGonagall did both wands, finding the shield spell on the Gryffindor's wand, and the burning pustules on the Slytherin's wand. Remus almost cried out and it was only the fear of being caught where he shouldn't be that kept him hidden. McGonagall knew the truth but if anyone else found out, it could cause problems. The Slytherin tried arguing as McGonagall helped him up, and she said she would take him to the hospital wing and get Slughorn.

They all disappeared and Remus shut the passage, slumping down onto the ground, hugging his knees. Surely McGonagall would be able to see what really happened, right? The Slytherin was the victim.

He stayed in that position until eight and then got up, trudging out of the passage and going to meet up with Peter. Peter was in a very cheerful, bouncy mood, jabbering on about how well he did, and that Fawley said he had been progressing 'astonishingly' well. Remus murmured congratulations, mind still on the fight. He wanted to swing by the entrance hall to check the points, but that would also seem suspicious. It was curfew, and even though he had a note from Pomfrey saying he had permission to be out at this time due to their standing appointment, he knew going down to the entrance hall would be out of the way and whoever checked the note would want to know exactly why he was all the way down there. Plus Peter didn't have a note. It was too risky.

Remus didn't tell his friends about what he saw. He suspected they wouldn't care if a Slytherin got into trouble and a Gryffindor got away with it. Wasn't that what they were planning to do anyway with the Polyjuice potion? Throw blame on a Slytherin? Except Remus felt it was a little different… The Gryffindor had done serious harm to the Slytherin…

It isn't very different and you know it, he told himself late that night as he tossed and turned with guilt for not speaking out when it happened. You're being a hypocrite. You are going to help James and Sirius get Mulciber and Avery in trouble.

Mulciber and Avery deserve it, he also told himself, rolling over and rubbing his forehead.

Maybe the Slytherin deserved it.

But what if he didn't?

When morning came, he could hardly wait as he threw on clothes and watched his friends get ready. He was very impatient and tried his best not to show it, but was glad when they finally left. He itched to run, somehow keeping pace with the others until they neared the Great Hall. Remus then took several quick steps to look at the points and was dismayed to see Slytherin had lost over sixty since dinner the previous night.

Aegis confirmed it, as they were partners in Potions. He said a seventh year who was infamous in Slytherin for getting into fights got into another fight and hexed himself with the Burning Pimple hex.

"He's been in the hospital all night." Aegis shook his head as he stirred the cauldron. "He has a lot of people very angry at him."

Remus sat in silence, watching the smoke rise from the cauldron and trying not to gag at the scent coming in from everywhere. Today's potion smelled sort of like what he imagined the Burning Pimple hex might smell like close up.

"He fights a lot?" he finally asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, he picks fights with anyone and everyone. He's been that way since his mother was killed, from what I understand."

Remus froze. "Killed?"

"Did you ever hear about the nundu incident a few years ago? Four people were killed." Remus nodded, remembering his father talking about it. Someone had brought a nundu into the country with the intention of assassinating the Minister… which would have been Nobby Leach at the time, he realized. "His mother was one of them. Uncle Minos worked with her sometimes. She worked for Dorcomc," he said, referring to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. "She received a posthumous Order of Merlin, First Class." Aegis pulled the spoon out and tapped it against the edge of the cauldron, letting the fizzy blue liquid drop back into the potion. "I cannot imagine such a thing. I mean, knowing your mother or someone you love is a hero for dying."

Remus simply nodded in agreement, unable to bring himself to talk.

As soon as Slughorn dismissed everyone, Remus told the Marauders he had something important to do and ran off without another word. He could hear them shouting at him but he ignored them, focusing on getting to the Transfiguration classroom before the next lesson started.

Thankfully he managed, and McGonagall had time to talk to him though she reminded him it wasn't very much time.

"I know," he panted, leaning against her desk as he tried to catch his breath. "But it's important. It's about the fight last night."

"Fight?" She gave him a stern glare. "What fight? What did Mr. Potter and Mr. Black—"

"No, no, not them," he cut her off before she could run off to hunt down his friends. "Darkwell. I—I'm not sure who the Gryffindor involved was." That certainly got her attention and she motioned for him to sit which he gladly did. "I saw it, or—or some of it. It was close to the room where Miss Fawley and I work, and I heard a disturbance so I looked out to see." He hoped that was good enough, at least. "A Slytherin and a Gryffindor were arguing and then the Gryffindor disarmed Darkwell, and put the Burning Pimple hex on him."

"Pardon?"

"The Gryffindor did it, Professor," Remus said, unable to look at her. "I saw him. Then he used Darkwell's wand to shoot the spell at the wall so when his wand was examined it would show that was the last spell used." He finally looked up and could see nothing but glittering eyes and the thinnest line she could press her lips into. "He hexed himself, to make it look like Darkwell attacked him, but he didn't do anything. All he did was yell at the Gryffindor. He never even got a chance to defend himself."

"Do you know Mr. Darkwell?"

"No, Professor. I only learned his name today, when Aegis told me about the aftermath."

McGonagall stared at him for several more seconds before standing up and going over to the window, her hands clasped behind her back. "I did suspect Mr. Alixan's story, however all evidence given to me pointed to that being what happened. Mr. Darkwell has barely spoken about the matter." She sighed, turning around. "If you were almost anyone else coming to me with this I'd question you more severely, however I know you would be honest in this matter." He warmed at the trust in her voice, at knowing that she did trust him despite his friends. "And I know this isn't some sort of scheme set up by your friends since they would never get a Gryffindor in trouble instead of a Slytherin."

She crossed the room, returning to her seat. "I will ask just to be certain, and please be honest. You are telling the truth?"

"On—on the Marauders, I would swear. On my grades, if that isn't enough."

She gave him a once-over and then nodded. "Very well. This is a deeply disturbing turn of events. Thank you for coming to me with this, Remus. Ten points to Gryffindor for your honesty and bravery."

Remus swallowed, realizing how much further behind this put Gryffindor. If they had fought their way over the year, they might have done better than last place but now it was looking like they would be in last place until the end of the school year. "I couldn't let that happen."

"I know you couldn't. You're a very good student. A very good person." She removed her glasses so she could rub at the spot on the side of her nose where they rest. "Thank you. You should get to your next lesson."

"You're welcome," he said as he stood. "Um. Are… will… will anyone know that I was the one who…?"

"No, I won't give your name to anyone. I'll tell Horace that one of my students came forward as a witness. Since you're a Gryffindor, it will be more readily believed."

He was relieved. He didn't care if the teachers knew, but he knew that if anyone else did he would be in a lot of trouble with his fellow Gryffindors.

Gryffindor blew up. By that evening everyone knew that Alixan had been lying, and Slytherin gained their missing points while Gryffindor lost them and then some. Extra, Remus supposed, for Alixan's deceit. Everyone also knew it was a Gryffindor who had done it—who had let the teachers know about the incident, and the house was furious. By supper, everyone was trying to figure out who the traitor was.

"How could anyone put Slytherin above their own house!" James demanded, slamming his fist against the table. "Who would do such a thing?"

"If Alixan was lying then whoever tattled did the right thing," said Lily, tossing her hair back.

"You did it, didn't you?" James suddenly rose up, hands pressed down against the table. "You snitched!"

"I did not!" She glowered at him. "And don't you dare try to accuse me. I have an alibi for the entire evening last night, we were in the library studying and then I walked back to the tower with Twycross. I spent the next hour with Mary, and then up to the dorms with Cassie and Alice."

"It's true," Alice said, sipping her tea. "I saw her come in with Twycross a few minutes before curfew. Also I agree with Lily. I think what Alixan did was terrible."

"Would you have snitched?" James asked her. "Honestly. From what I've heard, Blackwell's a twat—"

"He is," said Sirius, speaking up for the first time, extracting himself from his whispering and giggling with Cassie. "He's an utter wanker. He deserved the Burning Pimple hex, in my opinion. Don't give me that lofty look, Lily my dear, he's almost as nasty as Mulciber and Avery!"

"What do you know about him?" Remus asked, keeping his voice from trembling.

Sirius pushed his hair back, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling. "He's hurt Reg."

"Wh—what?" Remus squirmed in his seat, feeling ill. Maybe he shouldn't have done the right thing. But—no, it was the right thing, and McGonagall had praised him. Just because his peers wouldn't praise him and instead probably try to burn him at the stake if they knew…

"Nothing much, just tripped him a few times," Sirius explained. "He likes tripping first years. Thinks it's funny to see them go sprawling, especially if their books go everywhere. Reg told me he thinks Blackwell keeps a score of how many ink bottles break."

"I think he tripped me last year," Peter said and everyone looked at him. "After Photography club one day. I think it was him. Might've been another Slytherin though."

Basically similar things to what we've done, Remus thought, still feeling confused.

"From what I've witnessed, Alixan isn't exactly Mr. Stupendous," Cassie said, tossing her hair back as she changed the focus back onto the Gryffindor. "He's disgusting. He deserves to be in trouble."

"Oh, what's he done?" James asked bitterly.

Cassie fixated her eyes on him. "He likes to grab at girls in… you know. Their…" She gestured at her own chest. "And other places too. Doesn't like being told 'no' from girls either."

James froze in his seat and then clamped his mouth shut, ducking his head. Everyone else—including Remus—gasped, Alice covering her mouth with her hands.

"He has?" Lily asked, voice nearly cracking.

Cassie nodded. "I know for a fact."

"Did he harass you?" Sirius growled, standing up quickly.

Cassie's angry look softened and she put a hand against his arm. "No, I've seen it firsthand. He stuck his hand up a girl's skirt and held on even when she tried to push him away. Kept laughing about it, and told her that her bum felt too good to let go. It wasn't to me. He'd never do it to me, he's…" She paused and then bit her bottom lip. "He's rather racist."

"What?" James looked furious.

"He's never said anything to me, but I've heard from other students—"

"Wait, I've heard that too," Lily broke in. "Meadowes. Dorcas Meadowes, she's in the Slug Club and one day last year she was complaining about a sixth year Gryffindor boy who was saying racist things to her."

"She said it was Alixan?" Cassie asked.

"No, not by name, but he's a seventh year now, isn't he?" Lily poked at her food with her fork. "I don't know, it might be someone else…"

"I'd hate to think there's more than one of them running around," grumbled Sirius, flexing his fingers like he wanted to hurt Alixan himself.

"Why didn't she go to McGonagall about it?" James asked, absolute fury lacing his voice.

Lily didn't say anything for a while and then very softly she said, "When you're being attacked for something like that, it's hard to go to a Professor, Potter."

"I'd go, if someone said something racist to me," James said, puffing his chest out.

"Maybe it's easier for someone like you."

"Someone like me? What do you mean?"

Lily looked up, her green eyes a little wet. "A Pureblood."

There was complete silence at the table.

Finally James said, "McGonsie doesn't care about that."

"No, she doesn't. But it is hard for me to claw my way through with people calling me Mudblood left and right, I can't imagine what it's like for Meadowes—she's a Muggleborn too, and also black. She has to deal with way worse than I do. And if it's hard enough for me—being white—I cannot even fathom how hard it is for her. I am not judging her for never going to anyone about it, nor should you."

James started to say something but then Cassie said, "It is hard. James. No offense but you're… very rich. Very well-thought of. Your family is ancient and respected. Both the Potters and the Shafiqs. You've got a name, blood, and money. The Inkwoods… we only really have the name, and I only have half the blood. I've had things said to me. No, Sirius." She grabbed his arm again as he rose to his feet. "Don't. All I'm saying is I agree with Lily."

"I never really knew any of this," James said.

Cassie kept her eyes on him. "You're lucky."

James actually looked a little ashamed and poked at his food for a moment before saying, "I have had stuff said… I mean, you know, racist things about my Indian heritage… but it was all from… you know, Mulciber and Avery or twats like them so I never gave it much thought. They'd be finding nasty things to say to me whether I'm Indian or not."

"Can I ask you something?" Lily asked.

James looked shocked. "You want to ask me something? And in such a polite tone, too! Are you really Lily Evans?"

"Shut up."

"That's the Red I know." He studied Lily curiously. "All right, go on."

Lily tucked her lips into her mouth, making an uncertain sort of sound. Then, "Has… Severus ever… said anything like that? To you?"

James raised his eyebrows. Remus wondered what he was going to say… he had never heard Snape say anything but…

"No," James said. "He hasn't, not about me being Indian or anything like that. He mostly insults me on everything else. I've got no shortage of qualities for that greasy git to be jealous of—"

"All right, that's enough," she muttered angrily. "I wasn't asking for you to insult him!"

"But it's so easy to!"

Lily groaned loudly and grabbed her plate, standing up. "Come on, girls. This spot is getting stinky."

James shoveled some food in his mouth, chewed it a little, then opened his mouth to her, sticking his tongue out, bits of food falling. Lily gagged as she left with Alice and a reluctant Cassie following.

Sirius elbowed James, who was giggling as he wiped his mouth off. "Thanks a lot for that."

The conversation moved away from Alixan, Blackwell, and all of that. Remus started eating again, not really listening to them. Instead, he thought about everything said. It did make him feel better, knowing Alixan was a horrible person, but that also made him feel guilty for feeling better—after all, doing the right thing shouldn't be dependent on whether the person is nice or not. Even if Alixan was a wonderful person and Blackwell was a total bully… it shouldn't change how he felt about his decision.

He had done the right thing.

Even if he didn't always do the right thing.

Even if that evening he was going to help James and Sirius disguise themselves as Mulciber and Avery and get them in trouble.

He groaned and dropped his head in his hands at the complexity of the emotions coursing through his body, blaming his physical reaction on trying to remember something said in a lecture to placate his friends.

At least nobody seemed to know who the 'Gryffindor traitor' was, and he hoped it would stay that way because he really wasn't sure if James and Sirius would ever forgive him if they knew the truth, even with Alixan being a twat.