The week passed somewhat peacefully. Remus' emotions were beginning to regulate. He read books and worked on his Arithmancy project every night. He listened to Alexander Adamson speeches and read and reread his book. He attended class, did his homework (well, some of it), and watched his friends fly their broomsticks when it was warm out. After classes, he played card games in the common room and traded stories. Sometimes, Remus would meet up with Mallory to revise for Ancient Runes.

And finally—finally—he and his friends finished digging the hole. It was a large underground tunnel, fortified with spells. James had researched all sorts of hexes to keep people away from the tunnel, and he'd even learnt some password-protected concealing charms. Remus felt all right about the Animagus process again. Was he really being selfish if he knew he could not stop his friends? If they really wanted to do it? He didn't think so.

"All right, lads," said James, "here is it. Our own little tunnel."

"It's pretty amazing," said Peter.

It was indeed amazing. It was large enough that they could all comfortably stand in it, and deep enough that Remus doubted the sun could ever reach its depths. Perfect. Safe. Well, as safe as possible.

"Do you know what I think?" said James. "I think that, once this Animagus business is all finished, we should put some furniture in here. We can have our own little private Marauders clubhouse! It'll be great!"

"One step at a time, Prongs," said Sirius with a chuckle.

They climbed out of the tunnel with the help of a rope that James had bought at Hogsmeade (they probably could have gotten out without it, but Peter had wanted it just in case), and then James prepared to cast the password-protected concealment spell on it. "I was thinking all last night of the perfect password," he said, "and I think I have the perfect one."

Sirius took a step back. "Let's hear it, then."

With a small cough and a proud smile, James pointed his wand at the tunnel, closed his eyes, and waved it around a bit. The hole faded softly into the ground until it was indistinguishable from the rest of the forest floor. "Wow," whispered Remus.

James took another deep breath, and then he set the password. "James Potter is the best Marauder," he said.

He lowered his wand with a grin, and Sirius immediately tackled him.

"Stop it, stop it!" laughed James. "Gerroff me! Look, I just picked the best password for the job!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "You mean to tell me that I'm going to have to say that every time I want to get in there?"

"Absolutely, Moony."

"Change it!" growled Sirius.

James laughed. "I can't! It's a one-time thing!"

"You'd better change it!"

"I can't!"

"Prongs!"

"I was the one who learned the spell, so I'm the one who gets to choose the password!"

Finally, Sirius stepped away from James, and James turned to Remus. "All right, Moony. Do the honors?"

"Of course."

Remus took the small bowl of container that they had collected, pointed his wand at it, and froze it. Then he pointed his wand at the place where he knew the tunnel to be, and he said (reluctantly), "James Potter is the best Marauder."

He ignored James' laugher and focused on the tunnel. What had once been but a plain patch of soil and grass slowly became the entrance to a tunnel—two blinks and it was there in all its glory. Remus took a deep breath and walked into the tunnel, steadied only by the rope and by his own resolve.

He placed the container of dew in the back corner and then prepared to cast the Spell of Complete Darkness on the tunnel. He hadn't performed the spell before, but he knew the theory perfectly. "Nox aeterna," he said.

Suddenly, the entire tunnel went pitch-black. Remus, who had excellent night vision, wasn't used to being in absolute darkness. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, and then he started to feel around for the rope.

Finally, he found it, and he followed it to the tunnel's opening. It remained completely, perfectly dark until his head was fully out of the tunnel—he climbed the rest of the way out, and then the tunnel disappeared once more before his very eyes.

"The rope was a really good idea, Wormtail," he panted, still a little shaken from the unexpected darkness. "I needed it to find my way out of the tunnel again."

"I knew it would be," said Peter proudly.

"So it's done, then?" asked James. "Like, you're sure? You did everything right?"

"Of course I did. I know total darkness when I see it. But…"

"Yes?"

"I'm not sure how good my spells were. I should probably come back at some point to make sure that it's still frozen and that the room is still dark. I… we need to be sure. Totally, absolutely sure that nothing will go wrong."

"That's an excellent idea, Moony." James linked arms with Remus and began to lead him out of the Forest. "Well done, Marauders. We're one step closer to being fully-fledged animals!"

"And I'm several steps closer than you lot," said Remus, grinning.

He reveled in his friends' laughter and in the feel of James' arm against his own, and he let himself be glad (despite the fact that there was a small chance that he was killing his friends by openly enabling their attempts).

The Marauders went back to bed after that, and Remus fell asleep more easily than he ever had before. The next day would mark one week since Remus had started to take the potions, and he was absolutely certain that he was already feeling some of their effects. He felt more awake during the day and more tired at night, he hadn't broken any bones since that day with Manard, and his pain levels were slowly lowering. Things were going well.

The next morning, while Remus was walking to the Great Hall for breakfast with his friends, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He yelped and whirled around, only to see the tall and imposing Professor Dumbledore standing in front of him.

"Sorry, sir, but what—?"

"I need all four of you to follow me," said Dumbledore briskly—almost urgently. "Come."

He turned and began walking in the opposite direction. Remus looked at his friends, shrugged, and then all four began to scurry after Dumbledore, whose strides were so large that it was difficult to keep up.

"What's going on?" asked Remus. "Is it my parents? Are they okay?"

"Everyone is fine," said Dumbledore, but he did not slow down.

Finally, they arrived at Dumbledore's office. "Chewing gum," said Dumbledore, and then he took hold of Remus' wrist and ushered each Marauder into his office.

Wordlessly and wandlessly, Dumbledore magicked the door shut behind them, and then he drew his wand and performed what appeared to be a complicated protection spell.

"We haven't done anything against the rules recently, I don't think," said Sirius, nonplussed. "Oh, wait! I did copy off of Remus' Charms homework the other day. It was an accident. See, I was trying to copy off of James', but…"

"That is not what this is about." Dumbledore sat at his desk, wand still in hand. Remus saw Dumbledore's wand surprisingly infrequently, come to think of it. He was usually so confident and calm that he didn't have it out, and even when he performed magic, he often did so totally wandlessly.

Remus slowly took a seat and looked around. "Someone died," he said.

"Remus, no one has died. I promise."

"Someone's going to die."

"I hope not." Dumbledore sighed. "I hesitate to tell you, because I fear the news will put you into a mental state that I do not wish for you to be in right now, but I do think you deserve to know."

"Okay?"

Dumbledore did not let go of his wand, but he did cover the hand holding it with his other hand in a gesture that mimicked calmness. "Before I begin, you must know that I am not afraid. Nothing can harm you here, Remus. I do, however, think it prudent that I stay here with you, in my office, just in case."

Remus was beginning to get impatient, and his heart was beating so quickly that he was sure that even those with human hearing could detect it loudly and clearly. "What is it?" he asked.

"Well," said Dumbledore, "about fifteen minutes ago, a resident of Hogsmeade reported a sighting of Fenrir Greyback."

Remus froze. "In Hogsmeade?"

"Yes. The authorities are looking into it as we speak. It could be nothing, though I suspect not, as there are multiple witnesses. I have decided to bring you here for safekeeping, due to your—"

History, Remus thought. Dumbledore was about to say history—Remus' history with Fenrir Greyback—and then Remus would have to explain everything to his friends. They would know that he had been bitten by Greyback, that it had been a targeted attack, that Remus was terrified of Greyback rather than merely ambivalent about him… and Remus did not want them to know that. He wanted to keep this a secret. He didn't know why, but he knew that he did.

Perhaps it was because Remus had too many other secrets at the moment. Secrets were exhausting, but they were also addicting. So many of his secrets had already been revealed to them, and he felt exposed—and, at the same time, he felt like there was so much about himself that they did not know, and he was afraid that knowing this particular secret would lead them to discover the rest.

Yes, he needed some privacy. Just a little. It wasn't as if his friends could help with this, anyway—plenty of people already knew who had bitten Remus. He had plenty of people to talk to. No, he could have this to himself, just to remind himself that he was his own person, no matter how many things his friends knew about him.

He shook his head at Dumbledore nearly imperceptibly, and Dumbledore seemed to pick up on it. He had been hesitating on the word history anyway, likely due to a suspicion that Remus had not, in fact, told his friends every detail about the worst moment of his life.

"…due to your identity," Dumbledore finished.

"You think that Greyback knows that Remus is a werewolf and will come after him?" asked James, seemingly sceptical.

"I do."

"How would he know? Everyone's sworn to secrecy."

"There's a scent," said Remus quietly. "I can't explain it, but… well, Questus' scent changed after he was bitten, so I think there's a particular scent that gives a werewolf away to another werewolf." Remus remembered smelling it on Rocky, the werewolf in the forest, and he grimaced. "I'm not sure I would be able to pick up on it very well, myself—not unless I'm sort of expecting it—but I think someone like Greyback would."

"If anyone could, then it would be Fenrir," said Dumbledore. "And, if Fenrir wants you, Remus, then I feel certain that he would target those whom you care about. Yes, I think it is prudent that the four of you stay here for the time being."

Remus looked at the floor. Dumbledore didn't know it, but Greyback had, in fact, threatened Remus' friends. He'd done it ages ago.

"Why aren't you out there looking for him?" asked Sirius. "I mean, you're the most powerful wizard in existence."

"Yes, I am rather good at magic," chuckled Dumbledore. "That said, I don't quite have the expertise. The W.C.U. have much more experience in finding and capturing werewolves than I do. I've met Fenrir but a couple of times."

"Cool!" said Sirius. "When did you meet him?"

From personal experience, Remus knew that meeting Fenrir Greyback was not cool at all.

"He went to school here," responded Dumbledore. "I met him only once after he became a werewolf—it was in an abandoned alley somewhere, probably eleven years after he had been bitten, circa 1966. I offered him a way out."

"You offered him a way out?"

"I did. I offered to keep him safe from the Ministry executioners if he agreed to stop harming people. You have to understand that this was before the worst of his crimes—I still saw the boy I had once known, and I thought that, given the proper choice, he could walk away from the lifestyle. He had been forced into it, in a way."

The worst of his crimes? The year had been 1966, and he'd already bitten Remus at that point. Dumbledore, however, had not known that.

"He didn't accept my offer," said Dumbledore. "He Apparated away, and I haven't seen him since."

"You should have killed him on sight," said Remus.

Silence fell.

His friends were staring at him, and Remus stared back.

"What is it?" he said after a moment. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, you're right," said James with a bit of a chuckle, "and I agree. I just thought… well, I thought you'd have a bit more sympathy. Out of the four of us, you're not usually the violent one."

Sympathy. Remus had no sympathy for Fenrir Greyback. "I'm sorry to offend your delicate sensibilities, but Greyback's sullying the names of werewolves everywhere."

"You're right," said James. "I'm just impressed, really."

"And Professor Dumbledore," Remus continued, "I think we both know that you have a better chance of catching Greyback than the W.C.U. do. They know a lot about werewolves, yeah, but you know a lot about magic." Remus chuckled and gestured to himself. "And also about werewolves, I suppose."

"You are wrong," said Dumbledore. "I think I am needed here, where I can protect the children if I need to. I can be rather arrogant, but I am not so arrogant as to assume that I can do more than twenty members of the W.C.U." He smiled. "At this point, everything that can be done is being done. I would be of no help."

"I see." Remus looked down at his hands, which were shaking violently. "Have you any tea?"

"The kettle has just boiled."

Remus accepted a steaming cup from Dumbledore and waited patiently.

About twenty minutes of small talk later, there was a knock at the door.

Peter nearly jumped out of his skin, and Remus saw Dumbledore's fingers twitch around his wand.

"It's just Professor Manard," said Remus, serenely taking another sip of his tea. He was terrified out of his wits, but he didn't want to show it. That would give away his secret.

"Come in," said Dumbledore.

Manard hobbled in, a sheen of sweat on his face. Remus held his breath.

"No sign," said Manard, and Remus let out the breath, immensely disappointed and relieved at the same time. "We've scoured the whole place. Nothing. Greyback isn't in Hogsmeade. He likely Apparated away at some point when he realized he'd been spotted."

"What was he doing there?" asked James. "Was he looking for something—or someone? I just don't get why he would show up in Hogsmeade, of all places. I mean, the most powerful wizard on Earth is right here."

Manard looked at Remus, and then at Dumbledore. "We're not sure," he said slowly. "Perhaps he was just trying to spread more terror. Fear can be a powerful weapon."

Remus' tea was quivering in his cup. "Was anyone hurt?"

"No one."

"Have you checked…" Remus' mouth felt dry, and the words my parents' house died in his throat. "Never mind."

Manard raised an eyebrow. "Remus, if you have helpful information, then you need to tell us."

"You only think he has helpful information because he's a werewolf, you bigoted prat," grumbled James.

"No, James. I think he has helpful information because he started to tell us something and then stopped. I would have asked the same question if any of you had done the same."

Remus seriously doubted that, but he answered anyway. "I was just wondering if… well, you could bring me there," he said. "I might have more luck finding him if he's hiding."

Manard looked at Dumbledore. "That could work…"

"No," said Dumbledore firmly. "Remus, you are a student, not a member of the W.C.U."

"Wouldn't it be funny if he was?" whispered Sirius, and Remus suppressed a laugh.

"I'm volunteering, though," he said, "so you have my consent, and…"

"No. That's my final answer. You are staying where it's safe, and there will be no debate on the matter."

"I'm safer if I go out there, Professor! Either we think he's not out there and let our guards down, or we confirm that he's not out there while I'm surrounded by people who can protect me."

"Yes, thank you for volunteering, Remus, but my point remains. The W.C.U. are excellent at their jobs, and they have ways of detecting hidden people—especially hidden werewolves. We are certain that he is not in Hogsmeade, so we have no need for your abilities."

"Well…" started Manard.

"No, Salvis."

"I'm only saying that scent is really the only thing that a wizard cannot hide."

"Please," said Remus. "I would feel safer if…"

"No," said Dumbledore. "I will not put you in danger."

"If you really believed he's gone, then you'd also believe that it's perfectly safe in Hogsmeade! If you really believed he was gone, you'd let me go!"

"No, I wouldn't. I am not keeping you here for your physical safety; I am keeping you here because I do not believe you can handle it mentally. This is not a job for a child, on pure principle. Trust me, you are safe, and Professor Manard and I will be monitoring the castle all night." Dumbledore smiled. "Now, I believe you have Herbology next. Off you go."

"But I'm distraught, Professor," tried Peter.

"Yes, very nice try. Go to class."

Remus stood up, still shaking, and his knees nearly buckled. "Yes, let's go to class," he said. "I need to take my mind off of this."

"I daresay you do," said Dumbledore. "Go to the Hospital Wing if you need to, Remus."

"I won't," mumbled Remus, but to be quite honest, he wasn't quite sure.

"This is kind of cool, don't you think?" chattered James excitedly, pouring some soil into a pot. "I mean, you've sort of got an archenemy, Remus. A nemesis. Isn't that cool?"

Remus absentmindedly patted the soil in his own pot. "Who, Greyback?"

"Yeah! You're total opposites, you know? Because he's, like, the most famous werewolf ever, and he's completely evil…"

"Whilst you're the least famous werewolf ever, and you're a great person," finished Peter. "That is pretty cool, Remus!"

Remus didn't say anything. He just patted the soil in his pot some more and made a slight humming noise.

"Are you going to defeat him someday in an epic battle?" asked James. "You could win an Order of Merlin or something."

"Wouldn't that be nice," said Remus.

"I'll say! Ooh, Moony, are you done with that spade? I could use it."

"I'm finished." Remus had patted his soil nearly to a solid brick. He handed the spade to James and started placing fertilizer in the pot. "Someone test me on Astronomy. I've been trying to memorize Spaulding's Six Star Theories."

No one tested Remus on Astronomy, but they did change the topic rather quickly to something that Remus enjoyed significantly more than talk of Fenrir Greyback.

Hopefully, if he made no reaction—if he appeared neither pleased, interested, nor afraid—if he just ignored Greyback's existence—then his friends would forget all about him. And if everyone forgot that Greyback existed, perhaps he would just cease to exist. If a tree fell in the forest and no one was around to hear it, did it make a sound? Perhaps Remus would defeat Greyback by simply forgetting.

It was a long shot, but Remus didn't know what else to do at this point besides suppress, suppress, suppress. He couldn't talk to anybody about the fact that Greyback literally was after him, and had even sent him letters, and…

Oh, fiddlesticks. Remus hated secrets.

AN: Happy New Years!