A/N: Hello all! Sorry this took so long to get out. I don't think the next chapter should be as long...hopefully. I have a couple pages completed but that really does mean nothing, I've finished a whole chapter before only to delete it all and replace it with something completely different because I was thoroughly not satisfied by how I wrote it...Anyways...thank you all for the reviews! I really do appreciate you all letting me know that you like the characters and how the stories going. Some of you should be happy with this chapter...hopefully lol. Wish I could let you all know if Remus/Piper or Jade/Sirius get together but...well...that would be telling, you'll just have to read and find out lol ;). Anywho I hope you all enjoy the chapter and leave me a review and tell me what you thought!
Disclaimer: Actually I own Harry Potter...allright fine I don't, rub it in why don't you
Chapter 37: Truth
Remus made his way down the crowded halls of Hogwarts looking for a certain blonde. He swerved in and out of people's way, trying almost desperately to find her. He caught a glance of blonde hair that could only belong to her and made a bee line for her.
"Piper, can I talk to you for a minute?" Remus asked once he caught up to her. He went to grab her arm but stopped remembering what had happened the last time he touched her.
Piper turned around and looked at him wearily, as if deciding if he was worth her time. Finally he saw her sigh, "I guess…" she said hesitantly.
"Great," Remus said, motioning with his head for her to follow him to an empty classroom.
Piper followed Remus obediently and once they were inside he said a locking and silencing spell at the door. When he looked back Piper was looking at him very confused, "Piper I…I have something to admit to you. Something that I should have told you so long ago," Remus said feeling completely nervous.
Piper held up her hand, biting her bottom lip, "To be honest Remus, I don't know if I can do this…maybe I should just go,"
Piper made a move to leave but Remus quickly stepped in front of her, blocking her way, a determined look on his face.
"NO! I let you out of my life once, I won't let it happen again," he said firmly.
Piper's eyes widened in surprise at his words as she slowly took them in, "…what're you talking about?" she asked quietly, leaning against one of the desks for support.
Remus sighed, "When you said you loved me Piper, I was so happy. But then I was so desperately sad because I knew I was about to hurt you. I had to break things off because I wanted to protect you—"
Piper quickly cut him off, "You were happy when I said I loved you? Why?" Piper asked, a small well of hope shinning through in her eyes.
"Because…because when you said it, you were reciprocating what I had already felt for a long time," Remus said quietly.
"And what would that be?" Piper asked, barely above a whisper.
"That I love you too, that I still do…more than anything," he said quietly.
In a flash Piper pushed off the desk and wrapped her arms around Remus's neck, "I knew it," she said inhaling his scent deeply, "I knew you loved me."
When Remus didn't return the hug Piper pulled away, a hurt look on her face, "What's going on? I thought you said you…does this mean you don't want to be with me? Is this some kind of sick joke?"
"No it's not! And I do want to be with you," at this point Piper's eyes sparkled and she made to move towards him once again, but Remus took a step back, "but I need to tell you my secret first. Once you hear it it'll be your decision if you want us to still be together."
"I don't care what it is Remus," Piper said boldly.
"I really hope you don't Piper, I really do. Well here it goes, Piper—I'm a werewolf," Remus said.
Piper just starred at him for a long time, then a smile broke across her face, "Ha-ha Remus, nice joke, come on just tell me what your secret is,"
Remus stared at Piper confused, "Piper…that really is my secret. I'm a werewolf."
"But…you can't be. I mean certainly they wouldn't let a werewolf into the school…I mean…you—" Piper said looking at Remus horrified.
"Piper," Remus said reaching out to her.
"Don't touch me!" Piper screamed, "YOU'RE A WEREWOLF! Oh my god. I need out of here right now," Piper screeched racing to the door and trying to pry it opened.
"Piper wait, please just—"
"OPEN THE DOOR! YOU OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!" Piper continued to yell. When Remus moved near her she cowered back, "don't come near me! Don't come near me you filthy half breed!"
Remus took a step back as if she had slapped him, "Piper…I love you,"
"Well I don't love you! I could never love a werewolf! NEVER!"
Remus sat upright in his bed breathing heavily, sweat pouring down his face. As he slowly caught his breath he laid back down again, wide awake. These nightmares were getting worse and worse. All of them ended the same way, with Piper being so scared of him she ended up looking at him with such disgust he felt like crawling out of his skin and dying.
It had been over a week now that he had promised himself that he would tell Piper the truth, the whole truth. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, and he wanted her to know the truth about him, about what he really was. But after he had set his mind to do it….the nightmares had started.
Each nightmare she would react differently. One night she had even tried to spray holy water on him to force the demon out of him. But that last one…that one had to be the worst. The disgust in her eyes…her saying she could never love a werewolf that was what Remus feared the worse. He couldn't stand the fact that she looked at him with disgust…it was what was stopping him from telling her.
There was only a few short weeks left of school and Remus wanted to work things out with Piper before they left, but he just couldn't get over his nerves. James and Sirius told him to just get it over with and he knew he should, it was just….
Remus took a deep breath, when had he become such a pussy? He growled and sat up punching his pillow. He had let this go too far, tomorrow he was going to do it, he was going to tell Piper he loved her, no matter what.
James walked into the library in his quidditch robes, searching for Lily. Today was their last game against Slytherin for the cup and he was due down on the pitch in about ten minutes but he wanted to make sure Lily was going to come.
She hadn't told him whether or not she was coming or if she was just going to stay in the library and study. She really hadn't said much to him the last week…just grunted really. She hadn't been snapping at people too bad lately…mostly because she had just started ignoring people all together.
James scanned the desks in the library and spotted her near the back, papers all over the place. James took a deep breath and walked over.
"Hey sweets," James said, coming over and giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
Lily grunted in response and James took the seat across from her, "Shouldn't you be down at the pitch?" she asked, still bent over whatever it was she was working on.
"Yeah…I'm about to go down, I was just checking to see if—" James started to say but Lily cut him off.
"Do you think this will be too glittery, I don't want you to get distracted from finding the snitch," Lily said quickly, holding up a sign that read 'GO JAMES! GET THE SNITCH'.
James stared at it then looked over at Lily who was staring at the sign critically, "I think I probably shouldn't have used so much glitter. It might get you confused as to where the snitch is. I don't want anything that might hurt our chances in winning." Lily muttered more so to herself.
James looked down at the table and saw it was actually covered in various signs of encouragement for the Gryffindor quidditch team and for him and Jade. James looked back at Lily, falling in love with her all over again.
"I love you so much," James said quietly, a grin breaking across his face.
Lily looked over at him sharply, "I love you too. Now tell me what you think about this one, I made sure not to use gold in any of my signs but the silver could be confusing as well, what do you think?"
"I think they're perfect…your perfect," James said quietly.
Lily snorted, "Please, I'm far from perfect. Look, go down to the pitch, you should have already been there. I'll walk down with you so you can carry the signs for me. I want to get their early so I can make sure no one has any inappropriate signs that will distract you. Also I want to get a good seat." Lily said as she stood up and started gathering all of the signs.
"Hey," James said quietly, catching her hands.
Lily looked up at him, "What?"
James leaned down, cupping his hands around her face and kissed her gently, "You are," he said kissing her again, lightly flicking his tongue in her mouth, "quite possibly," he said, placing another soft kiss against her lips, "the best girlfriend a guy could ever hope for." He finished, placing a kiss on her nose.
Lily looked up at him and smiled. A true smile, one he hadn't seen for a long time now because of the exams. The smile only lasted for a minute and was quickly replaced with a frown, "Come on, stop wasting time, we need to get down there," Lily ushered him.
James nodded, not able to wipe the grin off of his face. He grabbed all of the sings and tucked them under one arm then with the other he entwined his fingers with Lily's and the two of them made their way down to the pitch.
"How're you feeling about the match?" Lily asked.
"A bit nervous actually," James shrugged.
"Well don't be. I have complete faith in you James. I know you can do this, I know you can beat Slytherin. That cup will be yours; all you have to do is concentrate. I mean you have beaten Slytherin before…you've also lost to them before, but that's beside the point," Lily rambled on.
"I think our chances are really good. I mean Jade Brady and Delaney have been working amazing together. Jade really has an amazing talent," James said, squeezing Lily's hand affectionately.
"She does," Lily agreed, then frowned, "It's a shame her mum can't see it."
James nodded in agreement, "But that's parents for you, they will push you into something they think you will like instead of just accepting what you already do."
Lily nodded in agreement.
Once they had reached the quidditch pitch it was already filled with people, everyone milling about. As people passed James they clasped him on the back and yelled 'good luck' or 'we know you can do it' at him.
James just smiled back, nodding his head in acknowledgement, feeling himself grow more nervous.
"There you are Potter come on we've got to—oh, hello Lily," Jade said, looking over at Lily stiffly.
Lily forced a tight smile on her face, "Jade. Good luck today," Lily said, biting her tongue to keep from saying anything inappropriate. She would not point out to Jade that her last charms quiz had been less then adequate, not when she had such a big day…Lily would just let it go, even if it killed her.
"What the hell is that?" Lily said suddenly, looking up into the stands.
"What?" James asked, peering into the stands where Lily was looking.
"That idiot has drawn a bloody golden snitch on her poster! That surely will confuse you, what a bloody idiot. Give me my signs, I'm going to go and rip hers up and give her one of mine," Lily said, grabbing the signs away from James.
"Lily, I'm sure it won't…" James started to say but Lily cut him off.
"Just let me handle it James, go get ready," Lily said, then disappeared into the crowd.
"Well, at least she's isn't taking her anger out on us," Jade said with a shrug.
"Yes…but now she's going to unleash it on a complete stranger," James sighed, shaking his head a small grin escaping his lips.
Piper walked down the hall making her way to the quidditch pitch. She had told Lily she was going to meet her down at the pitch later. She wanted to make sure that most people had gone down to the pitch so that she could avoid Remus. She didn't think she'd have much trouble; the halls were deserted since everyone wanted to get good seats for what promised to be a gruesome match for the house cup.
Piper sighed, for the last couple of days he kept trying to talk to her and she just couldn't do it. She just didn't want to talk to him. She knew it was lame, but she was just so hurt. When he and Janelle broke up after they had talked…Piper had felt a small well of hope swell up in side of her that maybe, just maybe, it was because he wanted to be with her.
She thought that maybe their talk had knocked some sense into him, and that kiss, it was one of the most passionate kisses they had ever shared. She knew she had been harsh with him but he had hurt her so much she didn't know what else to do. Then instead of rushing to her and telling her he wanted her back, he just completely ignored her. She was doing the same to him but it still stung.
Now all of a sudden he wanted to talk to her and she couldn't even be bothered. She didn't care what he had to say, he had his chance and she was damn well determined to just move on.
Or at least that's what she continued to tell herself hoping one day she would believe it.
"Oh cousin," A voice called out tauntingly.
Piper froze in her spot and gripped her wand tightly. She slowly turned around and saw Attis standing behind her, casually twirling his wand between his fingers, grinning broadly.
"What?" Piper asked curtly, holding her wand behind her back, ready for an attack.
"Tut tut, no need to be so rude, I just came to chat, no dueling today," he said smoothly.
"I'll have to pass on the chat cousin, I just had breakfast," Piper said haughtily.
Attis's eyes narrowed, his cool demeanor slowly slipping away, "Too bad for you. Why the family has decided you're worthy to be apart of us I will never understand. Grandfather wants an answer. Your times running out."
"I have until the end of school,' Piper said quietly.
"Yes, school ends in just two short weeks. I'm just here to remind you, to encourage you to make the right decision. Personally, I hope you don't come live with us. I'd much rather you chose the latter, that way I can have the honors of killing your half blood traitor self," Attis hissed.
"How happy would our grandfather be if he knew you were making threats dear cousin?" Piper asked, eyes flashing with anger.
"You don't know our grandfather," Attis said, his eyes sparkling maliciously, "Oh and just to put some fuel on your decision making…eight,"
"What the hell does that mean?" Piper snapped.
"Eight is how many guards are surrounding your house. Three out front, three hidden in the bushes around the back, and two patrolling the halls inside your house," Attis finished.
Piper stared at him, hoping the fear wasn't etched on her face, "I know how many guards my father has, but thank you for that," she said simply.
"Yes you do, and so do we. We know quite a few different things cousin," Attis said, that cool demeanor sliding back into place.
Piper looked over at him with a very serious expression on her face, "Do you know incest is illegal?" Piper asked.
Attis reacted quicker then Piper had anticipated. He grabbed hold of his wand and sent a curse flying at her before she could even blink. Piper was ready though, she knew dueling would be inevitable and quickly cast a protection spell around her. The curse bounced off the shield and hit into a suit of armor causing it to crash to the ground.
"You filthy half blood!" Attis hissed, "Actually…death is much too easy for you. I hope you come to our side so I can watch them break your spirit…and if not I will make sure to kill each one of your precious little friends. Then after I take away every single person you love, I will finally kill you," Attis hissed.
"You know cousin, some people might think that was a threat," Piper said back coolly, "I don't take kindly to threats," Piper said then thrust her wand forward.
Her curse hit Attis in the chest and he flew backwards smacking hard into the wall, falling into a heap on the floor with a loud thud. He dropped his wand and it rolled away from him. Attis scrambled to his knees and went to reach for it when Piper's foot came down on top of it, her wand pointing straight at Attis's head.
"Careful cousin," Attis said, "You don't want to do anything stupid."
Piper just glared at him, her breathing becoming ragged, and her eyes flashing dangerously. As she pointed her wand at his head, her arm started to shake. It was taking all she could not to curse him, she knew she should put her wand down, but she couldn't she just couldn't.
It would be so easy…to just say those two simple little words. She could shut him up forever, he would never hurt her again, and he would never hurt anyone again. Her eyes narrowed and she could feel darkness start to flow through her.
"Piper? Piper stop!" Remus said spotting her from down the hall. He ran over quickly to where Piper had Attis pinned to the ground, "Put your wand down Piper, come on it's not worth it."
"Are you sure about that? Because I think it just might be," Piper said, gritting her teeth together.
"You are better than him. Come on Piper, put the wand down," Remus coaxed her.
Piper sighed and lowered her wand the darkness she felt before gone now, "Whatever," she muttered, kicking Attis's wand at him, she raised her wand again when he grabbed it, "Get out of here."
Attis glared at her, stood up and quickly made his way down the hall, and soon was out of sight.
"Piper, you've got to be careful, upsetting Attis is not a smart move for you right now," Remus lectured her.
Piper whirled around, anger emitting off of her, "and what business is that of yours? Why do you even care?"
"Why do I care? Because I don't want to see you end of up dead! Gods Piper, what were you even thinking?"
"I hadn't even done anything so sod off. I was just..."
"Just what? Antagonizing him so that he goes and tells your grandfather? Real smart,"
"STOP YELLING AT ME! Stop butting into my personal affairs, you have no right,"
"No right? I think I bloody well have a right in the personal affairs of the girl I love,"
Piper froze, and so did Remus. They both stared at each other for the longest time, until Piper finally spoke, "What?" she asked quietly.
Remus opened his mouth to say something but shut it quickly, no words coming out.
"What did you just say?" Piper asked, her eyes narrowing.
Remus sighed annoyed, "You bloody well heard me,"
"No, I mustn't have. You must have mistakenly said something because you could not possibly have said what you just said," Piper yelled.
"Well I did. I said it, I finally said it. I said what I've been hiding all year. I love you Piper Cromwell,"
Piper looked at him with disbelief, then scoffed, "Give me a break; you love me now do you? What about this 'deep dark secret', you've been keeping from me? The one that you had to break up with me for?" Piper said mockingly.
"Don't mock me! It is a very big secret; it's a very big burden!"
"Sure it is,"
"It is!"
"Whatever,"
"I'm a werewolf!"
Piper's mouth dropped opened a little; she closed it quickly, standing very still.
Remus sighed, "That's not how I wanted to tell you, and I was going to. I've been trying to tell you all week. I'm…I'm a werewolf Piper,"
Piper crossed her arms and sucked in a deep breath. She looked up at Remus and studied him for a long moment, "So what you're telling me is… the reason that you have kept us apart all of these months, the reason I have been completely miserable without you, is simply because once a month you unwillingly turn into a werewolf?" Piper asked through gritted teeth.
Remus hung his head in shame, "Yes," he said quietly.
Remus heard Piper move and sighed. When he looked back up she was standing inches from him with an unreadable look on her face. Remus looked at her confused. He went to say something but was cut off by Piper slapping him over the head.
"OW!" Remus yelped.
"You idiot!" Piper yelled, slapping him over the head again, "You're telling me that because ONCE a month you're not so pleasant to be around, you decided to keep us apart? ARE YOU DAFT?"
"It's not like I'm just not pleasant to be around Piper! I turn into a murderous beast!" Remus growled.
"Gods you're so infuriating! I fell like murdering you right now," Piper hissed, "Are you done now?"
"Done what?" Remus asked confused.
"Done keeping us apart? Or is there another deep dark secret you feel you have to keep from me. Oooh maybe you turn into a fluffy kitty cat every Halloween. I hear they can be quite deadly," Piper scowled.
"You…you want to still be together, even though I…" Remus said trailing off.
"Merlin, I just had to fall for an idiot didn't I?" Piper sighed, then she grabbed a hold of Remus's collar and pulled him to her, crashing her lips upon his.
Remus was surprised at first, then quickly melted into the kiss, wrapping his arm tightly around Piper, never wanting to let go.
"I do hope you realize, now that I have you back, I won't be letting you go," Remus asked quietly, after both their lips were bruised from snogging.
Piper smirked, "What makes you think I'd ever let you?"
Remus just grinned, pulling her into another heart stopping kiss, "We should get down to the quidditch pitch, the game is probably starting now," Remus said reluctantly, panting heavily.
Piper grinned, running her hands over Remus's chest. She cocked her head to one side with a sly smile on her face, "Do you really want to go now?" she asked quietly, moving her hands up over his shoulders and back into his hair.
"No," Remus groaned, attaching his lips once again to Piper's.
"We should go somewhere a little more…private," Piper said, raising an eyebrow at Remus.
Remus looked at her a little surprised then grinned, "Ok…I know where we can go," Remus said grabbing Piper's hand and leading her down the hallway earnestly.
Piper giggled at how excited he was then sighed, it felt so nice to just be able to touch him again, she felt happier then she had in months and it felt so good.
As they turned the corner and continued down another hallway neither noticed a person hidden in the shadows watch them go. The person smiled cruelly then walked off the opposite direction, whistling to themselves.