2 YEARS LATER

All students, when studying at Hogwarts, wondered just where they were going to end up when they were forced out into the adult world. More often than not, just the thought of it brought a wave of crippling anxiety amongst the seventh years. I had been one of them. Merlin, I'd left Hogwarts with no idea about what I wanted to do with my life and 18 really was too young to be making life decisions.

Maybe if Remus hadn't confided in me about the real reason that he disappeared every full moon, then I wouldn't have gone into healing magic. It wasn't as if Remus could hang around at Hogwarts or go to St Mungo's the morning following each full moon. Doing so would only force him to tell people about what he was, and he just wasn't ready for that.

But it wasn't as if Remus had willingly told me either. The situation had forced him into telling me.

During my seventh year at Hogwarts, Pritchett had managed to lose her position as the house Prefect and it seemed like our head of house decided that I was the best choice for her replacement. One night, after I'd returned from a late-night patrol, I'd walked into the dorm room to find Pritchett and Cole's beds empty and as much as I still disliked the girls, it wasn't like I could let them roam around the castle on their own. Not when people were murmuring that Grindelwald was looking to break into Hogwarts. Reluctantly, I headed off in search of the girls and if I hadn't happened to casually look out of the window, I wouldn't have seen the pair of them heading towards the Forbidden Forest.

With an irritated sigh, I ran through the castle and took all the shortcuts that Remus had shown me to try and intercept the girls. The stupid bints hurried into the Forbidden Forest, only to freeze at the sound of a deep howl. The sound rooted me to my position, fear turning the blood running through my veins into ice and I took deep breaths to try and calm myself. Helga, this position just wasn't worth it. Before I could begin to move towards my dormmates to convince them to return back inside, a … what was that –

A werewolf burst through the trees heading straight towards them, with a deer and a grim – of all creatures – following after it. Just the sight of the creature had the girls screaming and I reacted before thinking.

"Protego!" The spell did two things; it covered the two girls whilst suddenly alerting the werewolf to my presence. Well, I thought as the werewolf switched targets and suddenly approached me; this was the way I died.

Some people claimed they would run in dangerous situations, others said they would fight for their lives. But me? I froze, suddenly seeming not to remember any of the spells I'd ever learned.

The stag, glancing between the werewolf and me, sped up quickly as it shared a look with the grim. Merlin, why were these animals showing such human mannerisms? The rat, which I had only just noticed, flung itself towards the wolf and seemed to bite its snout, causing it to rear back in pain. The grim barrelled straight into the wolf, knocking it aside and giving the stag enough time to get towards me. I watched, terrified as the stag came to a stop in front of me, turning to face the wolf who snarled with anger and charged straight towards us.

Lowering its head, the stag held the wolf back with its antlers, and no matter how much it tried, it couldn't fight against the wolf. Tossing its head aside, the stag sent the werewolf flying before turning towards me to push me roughly out of the way. My head hit a tree trunk and, as everything turned black, I vaguely heard Pritchett and Cole screaming out for me.

When I woke up early the next morning, I found myself in the hospital wing where the matron told me that my dormmates had been the ones to bring me in. And, as I looked around, I could see the two girls sleeping beside my bed and shuffled towards them slightly. Shaking Cole awake, I shushed her instantly when she began to speak loudly and gestured towards a still slumbering Pritchett. It took a long time for me to convince the two girls to head up to bed, but eventually, they were forced to leave. As they left, they pushed open the curtains surrounding the bed and I realised that four other beds were filled.

The Marauders, but why –

People said that one of the most dangerous things was having too much time to think. And maybe that was true because I couldn't stop myself from remembering exactly what had happened last night and who had been there. A rat, a grim – no, no a dog, and a stag. Not to forget the werewolf. My eyes flickered towards the other beds and I sucked in a breath.

Wormtail. Padfoot. Prong.

Moony.

Helga help me.

Of the boys, Remus had been the first to wake up and I could still remember the way he looked down at me with guilty eyes. I'd somehow managed to convince him that it wasn't his fault – it was my own fault for wandering out of the castle – and that I knew the truth. He's been forced to admit everything to them and then proceeded to spend the next few days avoiding me until he was hauled in front of me by Potter who had a firm grip on the back of his robes.

Now, as I watched Remus sleep calmly after a full moon, I knew that training to become a healer was the best decision I could have ever made. Looking over the room I couldn't help but giggle at the sight of the 4 marauders sprawled across our bed which had been magically enlarged to fit all of them. There was more than enough space for them but that didn't stop them from clinging to one another in their sleep.

With a glance at the clock, I realised that they'd be awake soon and set about pouring out dosages of different potions for them to take. Removing their wands from the cupboard where they'd locked them away for safe keeping, I used them to essentially label whose potions were whose. Just as I turned to leave the room, one of them groaned as they woke up.

Tuning towards the bed, I was unsurprised to find that Remus was the first one awake. He opened his eyes, straining against the sunlight which streamed in through the gap between the curtains. Lifting his head, he searched the room for me and when he found me by the door, he gestured for me to approach the bed.

Coming closer to him, I watched as Remus lowered his head back to his pillow, but not before casting a look at Peter who was sleeping with his head against Remus' chest and his leg thrown over Sirius'. Perching on the edge of the mattress, I smiled gently down at Remus and ran a hand through his face.

A slow smile spread across his face as he murmured, "Good morning."