Many Moons

Year 5

Remus' 15th birthday had finally come. He started testosterone and he was now 6 feet tall. Being on T made him feel so much better about himself. His jawline sharpened and his voice got deeper, no longer requiring him to consciously lower it to sound more masculine. He even began to develop some more muscles. Not to mention, the redistribution of his body fat made his hips less feminine and more narrow. Some stubble began to grow along his cheeks, meaning he could now shave, which he found to be pretty cool. The only problem was that his period was not letting up one bit. It was bloody horrible, but, with all the other compensations, he was able to live with that. He also decided to wear a packer in order to feel like more of a man. It was uncomfortable at first, and he had several embarrassing moments, but once he got used to it, it actually made him feel much better. Although, there was an unexplainable sad sensation he only felt when he wore his packer. However, his self-confidence had gotten much better overall.
He and Sirius were still a secret to those outside of Gryffindor, and Remus was only out to James, Lily, Sirius, and Peter. Everything was going well...until it wasn't.
Little did Remus, or anyone for that matter, know that Snape had been in league with a very prejudiced professor in that of Professor Telford: the ancient runes teacher, an ex Slytherin, and head of the Slytherin house. He was known to be extremely prejudiced, transphobic, homophobic, and openly hated muggle-borns and half breeds. So, when the opportunity to expose (what he considered) filth they allowed at Hogwarts arose, he couldn't turn it down. After hearing the information from Snape, he decided that he'd look into a certain Remus Lupin's private file. When requesting permission to enter the Records Hall, Professor Telford told Dumbledore that Snape would accompany him. This was because Professor Telford was looking to make Snape his apprentice, and he couldn't give him that position without looking through his records to ensure he was qualified for the position. Both were off. Once they were in this year's file, they searched for the surname Lupin but found no files with "Remus" on them. Instead, they found "Accalia Lupin," the file of a girl...
Within the file, there were held records dating back to when Remus was around 10. His gender marker changed to male and officially listed Remus with the name "Remus John Lupin," but previously read "Accalia Hope Lupin." With this newfound information, Professor Telford vowed that he'd make it his mission to use (what he believed to be) Remus' correct name when announcing this week's prefect duties at dinner.
Four days later, at the beginning of dinner, Professor Telford was to announce the prefect duties for that week, as always. He called out the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin duties, but paused at Gryffindor saying,
"Oh, there seems to be a misunderstanding. Gryffindor has two girls as prefects."
Hushed whispers fell over the great hall. Gryffindor didn't have two girl prefects; it had Remus and Lily, a boy and a girl.
The professor only continued. James shot a death glare at Snape who had a snarky look on his face and appeared to be enjoying himself.
"Alright. I suppose I'll give instructions to the girls. Lily Evans and Accalia Lupin, please come up to the staff table to receive your instructions."
Muffled whispers fell over the hall once again. The other Gryffindor prefect was Remus, not this "Accalia." Remus' eyes were bloodshot. They know! Everyone knows! My life is over! Snape gave a spiteful laugh before an anonymous voice from the Slytherin table bellowed out,
"Accalia is Remus! Remus is a tr*nny!!!"
Everyone was appalled. Was Remus really a girl??? Remus couldn't take it. He ran. He ran as far as he could. He couldn't be in there with everyone knowing; everyone laughing. He heard their voices ring through the halls: "F@G," "TR@NNY," "GROSS," "FREAK," "FAIRY," "D!KE." Sirius rushed after him while Lily and James got up, looking at each other as if they were communicating what they planned on doing.
James walked up to Snape, dragging him by the collar, into the hallway. Snape screeched,
"Bloody hell! Let go of me!"
Lily got right down to questions.
"How did you find out about Remus' old name, you sneak!?"
Snape grumbled,
"I always knew it was a girl,"
he began, talking in a mocking girl voice,
"always covering up her boobs, muttering period spells in classes, and, let's not forget, she can't even stand to take a leak. Also, I heard she's a f*ggot too; slipping around with that filth of a Black."
James and Lily were furious. James, growing aggressive, fast-slammed Snape into the wall,
"Don't you ever bloody call Remus a f^^king girl! He is a boy!!!"
Snape was not one to back down; looking both James and Lily in the eyes, sneering,
"It's a bloody...disgusting...girl!!!"
James hit Snape clean across the face and a physical fight ensued. It took everything in Lily to get James off of Snape. Lily was a strong girl, but at 5'3", she was a twig compared to the muscular 5'10" James. After a long fight, resulting in James winning, Snape ran away once Lily managed to pull James off of him. James was madder than hell, now screaming,
"How f**king dare that snake get in league with a bloody teacher and out Remus!!! What kind of school allows for that to bloody happen!?!?"
In his fit of rage, he accidentally transformed into a stag. He quickly transformed back, sputtering out,
"I'm so sorry about that. I have no idea what happened..."
Lily dragged him into the nearest empty classroom,
"You're a bloody animagus James???"
James got skittish, explaining,
"Uh, well...sorta. We all are; Sirius and Peter too... We read that becoming animagi would protect Remus from himself during his transformations, so we did it."
Lily was shocked but surprisingly impressed,
"Glad that you lot are helping Remus in more ways than one. I swear I won't tell."
James grinned, putting his hand out to shake on it, and they did.
Meanwhile, Sirius had caught up with Remus and found him up in the Astronomy Tower. Remus slumped to the ground, crying. Sirius came in slowly, nearing Remus. He said,
"I'm sorry Remi; about everything. You don't deserve this..."
Remus laughed sickly,
"Oh but I do, Sirius. I've been told since the day I started to transition that I'd be outed and ridiculed because I'm so f**king wrong!"
Sirius turned to face Remus, holding his hands saying,
"Remi, you're perfect just the way you are. So what? You're different. That's what makes you so incredibly special. And everyone in your life that matters loves you for who you are and doesn't want to change you. Lily loves you. Pete loves you. James loves you. Remus, I love you, and our love is between 2 blokes. I don't care that you look different, or have scars, or even that you're trans. You're still incredibly handsome and worth loving. And if ANYONE decides that they should give you sh!t for being who you are, then trust me, I'll personally beat their arses with James' help. I'm different too. I like boys. I'm the first person in my family to be in Gryffindor. I'm not like my family and that's okay because I've found the people that love me for me. And can I kiss you, love? Because you're crying and you don't deserve to cry."
Remus squeaked a low whispered,
"Thank you, Siri. Thank you for everything."
He hugged Sirius tight and pulled him back to kiss him. As crappy as Remus' life may become after this, he still had his amazing friends and his boyfriend, Sirius. After their moment, a concerned Peter, James, and Lily turned the corner, not admitting exactly how long they'd been there, but began speaking to Remus. James said,
"Look, mate, we all love you for exactly who you are. If anyone decides it's their business to make you uncomfortable, let me know, and I'll pummel their arses."
Peter piped in,
"Remus, you just have to love and be happy for yourself. The gender you identify as shouldn't mean your life has to be harder."
Lily reassured him,
"Remus, the important people don't care about what's in your trousers. I love you very much and am so proud of you."
They all gathered into a massive group hug with Remus at the center. For the first time in a long while, Remus felt like he had found the people that made him feel at home.
On their way back to Gryffindor Tower, they passed a few students who whispered about Remus. Hearing bits of words like "weirdo," "freak," "gross," "f@g," and "d!ke," among other things. Clearly embarrassed, and slightly ashamed, Remus lowered his head, wishing he could disappear. Silently, Sirius reached for Remus' hand, interlocking their fingers, whispering,
"Don't listen to them, they don't know you..."
They all made it back to Gryffindor Tower to get some much-needed sleep.
The following day was hell for Remus, to say the least. He was pushed up against walls, had his books knocked out of his hands, was tripped and laughed at, and had slur after slur thrown at him. It was dreadful, but he survived; ignoring the slurs and picking up his books, generally taking the high road until he neared the Slytherin hallway. He was walking with James and Sirius to Potions when Snape, along with a group of Slytherins, began watching Remus, whispering slurs under their breaths. Remus was done and irritated. He yelled,
"You know what? If you have so much to say, say it to my face!"
Snape put distance between himself and the group, responding,
"I said that you're a f**king f*ggot, Lupin. You're just a disgusting girl who thinks she's a boy because she's got a haircut!"
Remus answered,
"I'm not a girl! I'm a bloody boy! Why can't you understand that?"
Snape raised his wand to hex Remus, but Remus was quicker; drawing his wand, performing the Protego charm non-verbally. It blocked him from Snape's Sectumsempra. Remus cast a counter-attack, knocking Snape down. Snape, like the coward he was, backed away, screaming,
"Stay away from me, Accalia!"
Remus screamed back,
"My name is Remus! Don't call me Accalia, you prick!"
Snape, also not wanting to back down, sneered through gritted teeth,
"Accalia!"
Remus threw the best charms and hexes he knew; blasting Snape left and right down the hall. He was a boy and he wouldn't be messed with. Even if it took blasting the balls off of Snape to do it, he certainly would do so. Soon, he obtained Snape's wand. He took it and threw it up into the chandelier, sneering,
"Have fun getting your wand back, shorty!"
An astounded James and Sirius at his side knew that Remus was tough and a talented dualist, but they had never seen him like that. Sirius grabbed his hand, whispering,
"Now that was impressive!"
Remus just blushed a bit, smiling. They made it to class, and, by the time the class had ended, word had spread that Remus cursed the sh^t out of Snape for calling him by his deadname and a girl. There were still some whispers, but, for the most part, no one really said much. If there was a problem, they all were clearly afraid to end up like Severus.
Some weeks later, Lily, along with the Marauders, were called into Dumbledore's office to see Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Telford, and Severus. Professor Dumbledore stated,
"There seems to be a problem and we need to ask you all some questions. First: Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Potter, and Mr. Black, how did you find out about Mr. Lupin?"
James started,
"Well, we may have sort of pranked the Slytherins and they decided to get us back by stealing all of our clothes. At that point, we saw Remus in his underclothes and they were...different..."
Lily cut in,
"Sir, I found Remus' binders outside of my dorm and I figured they belonged to him, so I held them privately, not wanting to out him."
At the words "out him," she glared at Snape. Then Sirius cut in,
"When we returned to the dorm with our clothes, Remus was still in the bathroom so we gave him some clothes. Once dressed, he came out and told us. We were a bit confused but, of course, accepted him."
Dumbledore began,
"Alright. Now, Ms. Evans, how did you find out?"
Lily replied,
"Oh, well, once I found the underclothes and gave them to James, I sort of knew, but later that week, Remus told me personally in the library where I, of course, also accepted him."
Through all these questions, Remus couldn't help but blush like mad. These were his friends, of course, but it was still his personal business. Dumbledore then turned to Snape and asked,
"Now...how did you find out, Mr. Snape? Did Mr. Lupin tell you, or did you find out by other means?"
Snape started to stutter, saying,
"Erm, well...no. I wasn't told by anyone. I just figured it out. It never wore tight clothes, it always used the stalls in the toilets, and it's obvious that it has breasts."
At "breasts," Remus instinctively covered his chest; suddenly very self-conscious. James was pissed. No one calls his friend an "it" and gets away with it
James said in the most respectful way he could manage,
"Professor, do you mind if I request Severus to refer to Remus by his name and/or he/him pronouns, please? It seems very demeaning and disrespectful to call a person an 'it.'"
Dumbledore agreed and stated,
"Mr. Snape, please refer to Mr. Lupin by his proper pronouns and name."
Snape shook his head, rolling his eyes. Dumbledore, turning his attention to Remus, asked,
"Now, Mr. Lupin, have you ever faced any type of discrimination from anyone on the grounds of Hogwarts?"
Remus started,
"Yes, sir...I have. Severus would taunt me in the washrooms about not being able to stand and about my body. Professor Telford has denied me access to the washrooms when I truly needed it, which wasn't often. Severus has also used the f-slur towards both Sirius and I..."
Dumbledore said,
"I see. Now, why would Mr. Snape have used the f-slur when speaking of Mr. Black?"
Sirius spoke up,
"I'm, er...homosexual, sir. Remus and I are dating..."
Dumbledore replied,
"I see no problem with you two dating on the grounds of Hogwarts. Now that I've heard all sides, I see there is only one reason Mr. Lupin's old name got out. It was the work of you, Professor Telford. And, as of now, I'm asking you to please go and collect your possessions. We here at Hogwarts will not tolerate the bullying and outing of students. And, for your bullying and involvement with this, Mr. Snape, you are hereby punished to serve detention for five days a week, for 2 hours each session, until the start of your seventh year. Are we clear?"
Everyone cleared out. Remus' friends congratulated him; happy to hear that Professor Telford, as well as Snape, got what they deserved.
The rest of the school year went on and people gradually stopped talking about Remus and his relationship with Sirius, rather opting for the newest and latest gossip.
It was nearly time for the students to head home for the summer and Sirius was terrified. His cousins knew about him being gay and had most definitely written home about it. He left Remus with a peck and said goodbye to his friends. Approaching his "family," he timidly said,
"Hello, mother and father..."
They merely looked at him with repugnance. His mother, curtly saying,
"Come now boys, we need to get home."