Tale As Old As Time (A Remus Lupin Fanfiction)-completed

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The first week had gone by without much problem. So far we hadn't received too much homework and nothing drastic had happened. But as the weekend approached, my health began to decline. On Friday I was walking to Herbology when I almost passed out due to sheer exhaustion. Lily had to haul me across the castle to the hospital wing. To my surprise, the only other person there, was Remus Lupin. He looked just as pale and weak as I. As I laid in a bed next to his, I studied him curiously as he slept. His entire body was covered in various scars, some that looked years old and some that were relatively fresh.

Taking in everything about him I suddenly had a realization. Sirius' odd behavior on the train when he mentioned the weekend, the sickness around the full moon, and the abundance of scars. I barely even knew him, but the signs in front of me were clear: Remus Lupin was a werewolf. I stared at the wall In shock as I heard him stirring from his sleep.

"Annabelle? What are you doing here?" He said weakly.

"I believe I'm here for the same reason you are." I said looking at him with challenging but nervous eyes.

He looked startled for a moment and then confused. "I'm not sure what you mean but alright."

"I'm talking about how it's the full moon tomorrow." I said looking away.

This sentence caused him to sit up so suddenly I thought his neck might snap.

"What!" He shouted loudly. "The full moon? What do you mean? What are you trying to say. I have no clue what your tal-" I cut him off mid sentence.

"I'll make this easier for you to understand." I said impatiently, because the full moon always seemed to make me snarky and rude, "you're a werewolf, I'm a werewolf." I said with a shrug.

He just stared at me with his mouth slightly open for a few minutes before responding slowly. "How did you..ya know.. get bit." He said wincing a little at his words.

I frowned remembering the events of just a few months ago. "Home invasion. Did you know that blankets are no match for an angry werewolf?" I said trying to lighten the situation as I remembered my attempts to hide from it under a blanket.

He shook his head in sadness before giving my a look of extreme sympathy. "I'm so sorry you have to deal with this now. It's all I've ever remembered so I don't really know what it's like to live without it. You had such a normal life and now you have to live with this curse forever." He said sadly frowning at the floor.

I didn't respond to his words and instead took interest in his many scars. The poor boy had endured so much. With that we each layed down to rest in preparation for the restless night that would come.

****

I woke up in a haze, covered in dirt. I had a multitude of new scratches down my arms and legs, even a small bite around my ankle. My clothes were almost completely torn and filled with dirt and scum. I inspected my cuts and felt myself getting frustrated as the wear on my body.I brought my knees to my chest and began balling my eyes out. I stayed this way for probably 5 minutes before I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up through tear stained eye to meet Remus's equally red and puffy eyes. He sat down next to me and wrapped his arm around me. We didn't say anything as we just sat there in silence, trying to cope with the after affects of our condition.
The events of last night were hazy after we were brought to the shrieking shack. We were sitting in the room for no more that ten minutes before both of our transformations started. Luckily we didn't harm each other very much, only ourselves, but it is still never a pleasant experience.
Remus suddenly stood up and extended his hand towards me. I hesitantly took it and was helped up. How he had the strength to help me was beyond me. We began walking in the direction of the tunnel in silence slowly padding along the dirt in the unlit tunnel while supporting each other. We were especially weak after last night's full moon, and I just wanted to fall into a bed and never wake up ever again. By the time we made it out of the Whomping Willow, I was ready to pass out. Thankfully, the healer was waiting outside for us and conjured up stretchers to carry us back to the hospital wing. As the two of us were changed into new clothes and given medicine and food and water, we shared a knowing look. We took to our previous beds and were ready to sleep forever and try to forget about the pain. I locked eyes with him. I mouthed a 'thank you' to him and he gave me a weak smile in return. With that, we both closed our eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

****
The next morning when I woke up, Remus was gone. It seemed to be about 7 am, so I had a good 2 hours until classes started. I began to slowly make my way back to Gryffinfor tower to get ready for the school day, even though I still felt extremely weak and tired. After taking a long shower and changing into my robes, I headed down to the Great Hall to see if I could find Lily and explain my absence from classes yesterday. I would have to tell her the truth eventually, but the sooner the better.
I entered the hall and immediately saw her red head sitting alone at the table. When I came up to her, instead of her usual happy greeting, I received a glare and a huff from her.
"Lily I can explain my absence yesterday but I have to know that I can trust you." I started nervously sitting down next to her.

She gave me a look before finally speaking. "Go on then. You know you can trust me."

"I just have to know you won't judge me. I'm still the same old me." I said serisouly.

"You know I won't judge you. Really what is it?" She asked concerned now. "You're starting to worry me."

"Lily...I...I'm a werewolf."

Silence.

She stared at me with a shocked expression before tackling me in the biggest hug she's ever given me.
"Oh Belle when did this happen? Why didn't you tell me straight away..I could've helped you!!" She said staring to tear up.

"Don't cry Lily. It's alright, it's not too bad." I lied.

"Don't lie to me. I always know when you're lying." She said through full tears now. "I'll love you no matter what. You have to tell me how it happened tonight ok?" She said sincerely.

"I promise I'll tell you everything." I said back, and so I would. This was going to be a long day.

****
By the time dinner rolled around I had managed to tell Lily everything about my situation. We took our usual seats at the giant Gryffindor table and dug into the delicious food. We sat talking about the small things, trying to avoid the whole werewolf thing for a while. As I was digging in to my pumpkin pie, I looked up and made eye contact with Remus. He gave me a small smile before I returned it and gave him a thumbs up. Thankfully, Lily didn't notice our small exchange.