The Marauders: Moony

Remus And The Truth

Remus was unable to sleep that night.

He sat in front of the large window in his dorm, his knees tucked up under his chin and his arms wrapped around himself, his oversized jumper and fluffy socks keeping him warm.

How could he have not noticed? He thought about how she smelled of the forest, how she was an expert at healing spells. The webs started to connect inside his mind.

He thought about their connection. How she felt so familiar, so similar to him at times.

The rain had stopped and the sun was just starting to rise when the door quietly creaked opened, and Sirius stepped in.

Remus hadn't even noticed that Sirius wasn't in bed. It had been dark when he had returned from his walk with Lily, and he had assumed that his friends were all asleep.

Sirius scanned the room and spotted Remus. He quietly crept across the creaky wooden floor and made his way over to him. He sat down next to him and rested his head on Remus's shoulder with a gentle sigh.

"Where have you been, Padfoot?" Remus asked in a quiet whisper.

"I spent the night with a lady friend. Stopped by the owlery on the way back and left a little surprise for Snivellus." Sirius responded in a hushed voice.

Remus shook his head disapprovingly, but there was a small smile on his lips.

The two boys sat in silence for a while, watching as the grounds turned from a dusky pink to daylight as the sun rose up over the lake.

Remus wanted to tell Sirius, but he stayed quiet. If it were true, and she was a werewolf too, he knew that she wouldn't want people to know. He hadn't wanted anyone to know about him when he first came to Hogwarts. Remus was lucky that he had found such great friends. He wondered if Freya's friends knew about her. It would be almost impossible to hide from your friends, as Remus had found out.

Soon James and Peter started to stir. They looked a little surprised to see Sirius and Remus sat by the window together, but did not question it.

As soon as James and Peter had properly woken up, the four boys got dressed and went down to the great hall for breakfast. Lily, Alice and Marlene were already there. Lily gave Remus a knowing nod. They had spoken for hours the previous night, and he had decided that he would approach Freya once more. He would tell her that he knew. He would tell her that she didn't need to hide or to be afraid.

They had potions with the Ravenclaws this afternoon, so he knew that he would get an opportunity to see her today.

The morning went so slowly. Remus found himself glancing at his watch every ten minutes, sure that an hour must have passed, and then feeling disappointed that it hadn't. He felt nervous. He had been picking at everything. His hands, the bobbles on his jumper sleeve, the corners of his parchment paper in lessons.

He looked out for her at lunch, but the hall was so full that he was unable to see her. It was probably for the best anyway, he wouldn't approach her in the hall, surrounded by people.

He didn't feel hungry due to his nerves, but Sirius nudged his foot under the table and gave him a disapproving look when he noticed that Remus's plate was empty. Remus gave him a small smile and picked up a pumpkin pasty in response.

Remus felt giddy as he and his friends descended the staircase into the dungeons that afternoon. He could hear his heart beating in his ears.

"Today we will be making veritaserum." Professor Slughorn announced, writing on the blackboard at the front of the classroom.

A whisper rippled around the classroom. Truth serum. This was exciting.

"For those who aren't aware, veritaserum forces the drinker to tell the truth. Three drops is a sufficient dose to make the drinker spill out his innermost secrets. Does anyone know how long it takes to make veritaserum?" Slughorn asked.