Mitigation

Fawkes

Axel ran up the stairs to the eighth floor to the Room of Requirement. His home. His place. His peace.

He walked up and down the hall.

I don't want to be found by anyone except Chelsea and Elana and only if they truly want to find me. If they truly care about me.

If they really are my friends.

A door of gold appeared, unusual from the usual green he got when he came on full moons, and he walked in.

There was food on one side and a mattress on the other. He picked up a bag of spicy chips and laid down on the mattress. The only thing he could do now was wait.

And when he saw Chelsea and Elana walk in that door that forbade them to come in unless they truly cared, he knew he could trust them.

~O~

Elana tore through the castle, looking for the entrance to Gryffindor tower. She had heard it was a password lock so all she needed to find was the admitter.

She had heard Axel's story, how he was bitten during winter break, how he had kept it a secret from everyone and anyone, how he had found the Room of Requirement and hid there every full moon. He told her how he had a big family and how he stressed and didn't want to go home. He told her how the room would be designed to chain him and hold him down, with his hands behind his back. How he would hurt his arms because there would be nothing else to hurt. How he had forced himself to learn healing spells because without them he would die.

And she was determined to help him.

So she was going to find that book Lily had for practically the whole year on werewolves and read it.

She tore up and down the stairs, looking and looking. She bumped into Remus.

"I need to get into the Gryffindor common room."

"Why?"

"Please?" She asked. Please don't ask? Please just trust me? Please understand me?

He nodded, and took her hand, leading her up the stair case. She covered her eyes and ears, not wanting to invade privacy. Finally, she felt her surroundings change and felt a cool breeze around her neck.

She was in a large common room, with a fire and chairs and such.

"Lily?" She asked, and Remus took her to the entrance of the stairwell.

They went up together, after Elana reassured him that there would probably be no one in there. Probably. She looked around at the empty room and stopped at a picture of Lily and an older girl. Petunia. The new wrath on the redheads life.

Elana began to feel a tang of guilt, but none the less, she needed that book for Axel and it wasn't like it was Lily's personal things. She looked in her drawers and cabinet. She looked under her bed and gasped.

There was the book alright.

But a dozen other books on werewolves as well.

The Influx.

Remus turned pale. "Why does she have those?"

Elana grabbed all of them and shoved them in her satchel. "She doesn't."

"Elana?" Remus sounded scared. Elana turned, confused and wanting to help her friend.

"Don't change your feelings for anything, okay?"