AN: I will admit that this chapter has taken me many months to write. I started writing it back when the first chapter had been published, but then I went back in and would rewrite, rework, and return to the original version of this chapter. In the end, I decided to write out the rest of this chapter and be happy with the writing of it. As always, thanks goes to ThatOneAnimagus who has allowed me to play with their story and who has undoubtedly been waiting impatiently for me to upload a new update.

Just an announcement for this fic: The next chapter is going to be the big final. This story was never meant to be as long as it became. It was supposed to be a companion story to the original that explored the aftermath of what happened to Remus after his detention with Dolores Umbridge. It was never meant to rewrite the original story, and I definitely feel that this is exactly what happened. In my excitement to explore the characters and the story line, it became an entirely different story altogether. The final chapter is currently being worked on. Hopefully, it won't take me months to complete, but I hope that once I am finished this story that I can work on my other writing assignments. I have been working on a story that is set in the First Wizarding War that is largely from Remus' prospective. This story is an AU and will be largely canon except in terms of certain plot divergences. For this story, I have been researching World War II history in depth so I can make the events of that story as realistic as possible. This story is in response to a challenge on HPFC, and has been long overdue. I also do have another story that is set after the second Wizarding War and will deal with insanity, loss and grief. This has also been a long awaited story and I think it is about time that I devote time to fixing it up and publishing it.

Monster

Part II

Remus slept fitfully that night. The fear that his Lycanthropy was about to be exposed to the entire school prevented him from going to sleep. Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw his friends give him horrified looks, backing away fearfully from him as though he were about to attack them. He imagined the words that Sirius would scream at him upon learning his darkest secret, and how Umbridge had been right to have him permanently branded with the word 'Monster' on the back of his hand… how he deserved worse than any of the punishments that Umbridge had forced him to endure. Each time he closed his eyes, he imagined different reactions from each of his friends. Peter would be terrified and wouldn't look or speak to him. James would be silent, but his eyes would betray his anger and hatred for him. He woke with a violent start each time he managed to drift off to sleep until he finally admitted defeat and gazed up at the ceiling feeling utterly miserable and ashamed of himself. Ever since he started attending Hogwarts, he felt more at home than anywhere his father had chosen to hide him. Hogwarts provided a sense of comfort and belonging. Dumbledore and the professors didn't cringe away from him as though he was some terrifying monster that would infect them with his condition just by looking at them. For the first time in his life, Remus had friends that loved and adored him no matter how awkward he became.

Without Hogwarts, Remus had nothing. This castle meant so much more to him than a school that he returned to each year, it was where he belonged. If he was forced out of school because of what he was, he would get all the people he cared about most into deep trouble. Remus suspected that Dumbledore didn't bring up the fact that he was a werewolf to anyone in the Ministry of Magic, and instead decided to disprove the popular belief that people like him were more than what they were thought to be. Obviously, the Headmaster saw more in him than just some dark creature and wanted to give him the opportunity to receive the same right to education as his peers. He thought about McGonagall and how protective she was of him, and how proud she seemed to be of his progress in his studies. Yet, it wasn't just Dumbledore and McGonagall that risked their careers and livelihoods for him- it was also all the teachers that allowed him to attend their classes.

He pushed himself up in the bed so that his back rested against the headboard and shook his head wearily. There was no way he could fall asleep now. He felt so guilty about what he was doing to his professors, and the fear that he was going to be caught for what he was, terrorized him enough that sleep was no longer an option. He sighed dejectedly and quietly got out of bed to collect his school bag and a few of his textbooks. If he couldn't sleep tonight, at least he could put that time to good use by completing some of his homework assignments.

Remus paused at the door to the dormitory and glanced around the darkened room listening hard. There was a moment when he thought that he had awakened his friends despite how careful he was at being quiet and took in a breath of relief when he heard Peter's snores from behind his curtains. He winced as the door creaked open at his touch, shutting it as carefully as he could so that it didn't wake the others, and relaxed when he heard the door latch shut behind him. As quietly as he could, he moved down the staircase and into the empty common room where he made his way towards his favourite chair that was nearest to the fireplace. He placed his books heavily onto the table, lit one of the lanterns that rested nearby with a wave of his wand before busying himself with removing quills, ink bottles, and parchment from his bag and organized them in such a way that he had a workstation set up. Sirius and James loved to poke fun at this habit of his, but it was a method that Remus found almost calming.

He tapped the top of the table thoughtfully with his fingers for a few seconds before digging through his books to find his potions textbook. Slughorn wanted an essay discussing healing potions and the different types used. Inwardly, Remus groaned at what the Potions Master expected in this assignment. It had to be very well researched and very thorough as next lesson they were going to create a healing potion designed to help patients heal from burns. Perhaps, Slughorn knew of a potion that would help heal the cut on the back of his hand from Umbridge's blood quill, but he didn't know if a potion was powerful enough to counteract such dark magic. His hand throbbed painfully, but as Remus threw himself deeper into writing his essay and focusing on the material from his textbook, he found that the pain dulled down enough so that he could ignore it.

An hour and thirty minutes later, Remus admired his work. He would obviously have to go through what he had written and fine tune it with edits later, but he thought he did an admirable job in writing down what each healing potion was and what it was used for. He even made it a point to jot down the differences and similarities in their ingredients. Later, he would go to the library to ask Madam Maher if there was a book that specialised further in the topic so that he could see if he could glean any more knowledge to put into his essay. He set the parchment aside so that the ink could dry and reached for his Transfiguration textbook next. He had meant to start on McGonagall's essay the day it had been assigned but had put it off because he still needed to conduct more research into the topic she wanted to be discussed.

He rubbed at his eyes tiredly. He had all weekend to complete this essay, but the fact that he hadn't even started it made him feel ashamed of himself. Perhaps now that he was completely exhausted and wasn't as worried about Umbridge as before, Remus could finally go to bed, but he shook himself and reached for his quill.

"Surely, that essay can wait until later, Remus." Sirius sounded tired as he grabbed for the back of a chair that was right across from Remus and sat heavily into it. "It's nearly one thirty in the morning." He stopped talking for a moment, a look of bemusement on his face as he eyed him. "Do you mind putting that wand down? I would prefer not to have my face permanently disfigured by a hex."

Remus lowered his wand quickly but didn't release his hold from it. He had started violently when he heard Sirius' voice from behind him, and in his tired state it took a while to register who it was that had interrupted him. His face burned with embarrassment as he muttered apologies that were waved away by Sirius.

"No, don't worry about it," said Sirius quietly, his grey eyes fixed on Remus' face with such intensity that he found himself looking away. "I should have made sure that you knew that I was coming down the stairs. What are you doing up this late?"

Remus gestured at the table between them and shrugged in what he hoped was a nonchalant way. He pretended that he didn't notice the way that Sirius' eyes had narrowed, the way his hands clenched into fists on the table, or the way that his mouth had drawn into a tight line. Instead, he picked up his quill and pulled a piece of parchment close to him and leaned over the table to peer over at the Transfiguration textbook.

He felt Sirius' eyes burn into him and finally he looked up with a resigned expression on his face. "I am doing my assignments, Sirius." His eyes burned tiredly, and he absentmindedly rubbed at them in an attempt to relieve them of the sensation. "I left McGonagall's essay too late…"

"Too late?" Sirius asked incredulously. "In all that's Merlin, Remus, you have all weekend to complete these assignments. McGonagall's essay isn't even due until Tuesday! At least allow yourself to sleep before then."

Remus didn't say anything to this. He couldn't look at Sirius anymore. Instead, he stared down at his hands and remained quiet. He felt Sirius' eyes on him but didn't look up until he heard his friend sigh in frustration.

"There's something bothering you," said Sirius as he looked around the empty common room to ensure that they were alone. When he turned to face Remus again, he looked solemn and had leaned a little over the table so that he was closer to him. "You seem to forget that James and I have eyes and can see that you're worried about something. As a matter of fact, lately you've become so distant and withdrawn that it's become obvious that there is something wrong. Even Peter's noticed that you're…"

"There's nothing wrong, Sirius." Remus made to pick up his Transfiguration textbook, but Sirius made an impatient noise at the back of his throat and had pulled the book closer to him, so it was out of reach. "No, I am being serious, Sirius! There's nothing wrong. Don't raise your eyebrows like that! Now, can you give me back my textbook?"

Sirius shook his head at him, pushed his chair back so that he was now out of reach, and held the textbook tight to his chest. Remus inwardly groaned and brought a hand up to cover his eyes. As much as he adored Sirius' intellect and his knack for using his genius for getting into trouble, he didn't much like the idea that his friend was insightful and was as tenacious as he was persistent. Usually, Remus saw these traits come out whenever his friend was doing schoolwork or was thinking of a prank. There were times when he noticed that Sirius would show these traits whenever he thought his friends were upset or in Remus' case, whenever Sirius felt that he was hiding something from him. Most of the time it ended with Remus having no choice but to tell him something of the truth, and though it was usually enough to tell him that his mother was sick or that he was worried about his classes, there was a part of him that suspected that Sirius knew there was more to the story than what he was telling him.

"What's bothering you?" Sirius asked, edging closer to the table so that he could set the textbook upon it, but making sure that it was still out of reach. Remus could detect the concern in his friend's voice and felt guilt was over him at the thought that he couldn't be completely honest with his friend. "Out with it, Remus! There's something up and the only way you'll feel better is if you tell somebody about it. Is it your hand? Is it what Umbridge did to you? Are you worried that Percival doesn't like you because you played that trick on her last week? We both know that she carries grudges."

Remus snorted at the last part of what Sirius said. "Wasn't it you that turned her hair green at the start of the school year?"

"Wasn't it you that enchanted the book she was reading to scream every time she opened it?"

"What? No! That was you and James! She just thought it was me because I associate with you," said Remus indignantly. "Besides, the amount of damage that book caused to her arm when it bit down wasn't exactly funny, Sirius! You're lucky that she only jinxed you so that your ear hairs grew longer and wouldn't stop growing."

Sirius groaned. "Don't remind me of that! Merlin knows how long it took for Madam Pomfrey to stop yelling long enough to find the counter-jinx." He paused and gave Remus a knowing smile before continuing on- "I don't think Percival is making you upset. It seems after the singing jinx she sent your way after that disastrous biting book incident, that she's become quite civil with you. No, I say it's Umbridge that's gotten you upset."

Remus felt himself tense but forced himself to relax. "Why do you think that Umbridge is what is bothering me?"

Sirius gave him a small and patient smile. "It's really no mystery as to why you're upset. Though, you are trying really hard to not admit to it. She's targeted you since the first day of class, and she's forcing you to write something that is causing you great distress." He interrupted Remus' protestations with a small wave of his hand. "You are trying so hard to hide all of this that it's making everything all the more obvious. Now, what I want to know is why she's getting you to write down 'Monster' for your detentions? What was she whispering to you when we were in her office tonight?"

Remus suddenly felt more tired than he'd ever felt in his entire lifetime. He felt the exhaustion creep into his bones as though he had just undergone one of his monthly transformations and felt as though he had aged a hundred years. There was so much that he longed to tell Sirius, but fear of being resented and abandoned by his friends made him retreat further into himself. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with a shaking hand as he slowly counted to ten and thought quickly about what to say that would convince Sirius that he was fine.

Finally, he managed to control his emotions and opened his eyes to find that Sirius had moved from the other side of the table so that he was closer to him instead. He found it difficult to know what his friend was thinking as his eyes were unfathomable, and his face was carefully blank and void of emotion.

"You're right, Sirius. There is something bothering me." Remus took a deep breath and stared at a point over his friend's shoulder instead of looking directly at Sirius. "It's just… being here at Hogwarts means the world to me, and having friends like you, James, and Peter means much more than anything you can possibly know. I am just afraid that everything's going to be taken away from me. Umbridge is failing me in Defence Against the Dark Arts, and the stress of it all is really taking a toll on me."

Sirius didn't say anything for a few moments, but then he leaned forward and put a hand on Remus' arm. "There's more bothering you, isn't there? It's not just Umbridge failing you in your assignments or targeting you specifically in the classroom. There's something more. I can feel it. What else is going on Remus? Why's she forcing you to write monster in your own blood?"

Remus felt as though he couldn't breathe but forced himself to remain calm. Sometimes, he forgot that Sirius was incredibly intelligent and observant.

"I know there's more to this than just a teacher hating a student." Sirius took a deep breath, released Remus' arm, and shook his head as though to clear it. "Does it have anything to do with the fact that you leave every month? I know that… I know that your mum is sick, or at least that is what you keep telling us, but when Evans was attacked by those Slytherins a few months ago, Percival said that you were in the Hospital Wing. James thought that you were also attacked when you returned to the school and Pete was beside himself with worry, but I think that whatever is going on with your monthly disappearances is because you are the one that is sick."

Remus made an indistinct noise in the back of his throat and pushed himself away from the table. His heart felt as though it was about to jump out of his chest. He felt tears come to his eyes and turned his head away ashamed of himself.

"It's nothing like that," He managed to croak out. "My mother is sick with a disease that is causing her to waste away. I go visit her whenever my dad feels that she's at the end…"

"Every once a month, Remus?" Sirius asked softly. Remus sensed Sirius lean toward him and felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know that your mum is unwell. I know because I saw her when she was seeing you off at the start of last term, and because I feel how worried you are about her." Sirius hesitated for a moment as though debating with himself what to say next. "However, I know when you are lying to me or when you are trying to go around the truth. Don't you think you'll feel better when you tell somebody what is going on?"

Remus didn't say anything. He couldn't. He didn't know what to say to anything that his friend had said to him. Beside him, Sirius sighed and released his shoulder.

"How am I to help you when you make it so hard for me to know what's wrong?" Sirius asked sadly, getting to his feet and started putting Remus' belongings back in his schoolbag. "Right now, you need some sleep. It's late and you shouldn't be punishing yourself any further than you've already been punished. Come up to the dormitory and go to bed."

The next afternoon found Remus sitting by himself near the fireplace in the common room with a heavy wool blanket that covered his legs. The blanket had been a gift the Christmas before from his mother who had worked hard on it since she had found out that he had been sorted into Gryffindor. He smiled at the memory of unwrapping his present and had marveled at the hard work that his mother had put into making his gift. It had been done in the Gryffindor house colours, and he had always appreciated his mother's gift. It made chilly nights in the dormitory more bearable and helped soothe him when he was suffering from bouts of homesickness.

He looked out the window to see that the snowstorm that had blown its way into the school grounds early that morning had not left, and that the pile of snow that had been on the ledge of the window had grown considerably so that it covered half the window. He shivered slightly, pulling the blanket higher over his legs. The sound of the wind seemed to increase as it battered at the tower, and suddenly he wished that his friends were there with him. It wasn't as though he was alone in the common room. In a table that stood in a corner away from the fireplace were a group of fifth year students that were frantically reading through their textbooks and writing what appeared to be essays for one of their subjects. Lily Evans and her friends were sitting at another table close to him with a copy of the Daily Prophet between them, appearing grim as they spoke about a recent Death Eater attack on a muggle family in worried whispers.

"… The article doesn't seem to have much information. The last name sounds familiar. You don't think they were related to Mary Ann Aguillard of Ravenclaw?" Evelina Percival asked. She was hunched forward with her finger pressed to the news story. "They wiped out the entire family. Three generations…"

"You don't think that the Daily Prophet's been told to hush everything up, do you?" Lily's voice sounded pained as she read through the article again. "Why would the Ministry want to keep this quiet?"

"The Death Eaters seem to be growing in strength," Percival said fearfully. "My father's hardly been home. Did you read the pamphlet he sent me last week?"

"The Ministry's worried…"

"The Aurors have been ordered not to say anything to the Prophet…"

Remus broke away from their conversation and looked towards the fire, his thoughts troubled. He had heard that morning that there had been an attack on a family in a village that was not far from where his mother had spent her childhood. He wondered if he should write his mother a letter asking her if she had known the family that had been murdered but thought better of it. His mother was very sick, and he didn't want her to suffer through the stress of knowing that something's been happening in the wizarding community. Remus knew that his father kept his mother up to date on any news in the magical community but didn't think that he would have told her about something like this.

He closed his eyes at the thought of his mother. The last time he had seen her, she had been sitting in her armchair by the bay window that looked out over their back garden. She had been looking wistfully out at the roses that she loved so much. In the last few weeks of Remus' summer holiday, his mother had found it difficult to walk, and she had been confined to her favourite chair. However, despite her obvious pain and discomfort, whenever she saw Remus, she would give him her familiar wide smile and her eyes would twinkle just like they used to before she became sick. Now, it was often that he saw his mother's face contorted with pain, her body twisted as though she were suffering through the Cruciatus Curse. He couldn't imagine the pain she was going through, and he couldn't begin to imagine how he would feel if the Death Eaters had broken into his family's cottage to target his mother for being a muggle.

Remus was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice that his friends had entered the common room until James called out his name. He started, the book that he had been reading earlier fell to the floor with a soft thud, and he found himself blinking bemusedly up at James and Sirius who now stood in front of him. Peter bent over to pick up the book that had fallen to the floor and handed it back to him with an apologetic look in his eyes. However, Remus' attention was on Sirius and James who both appeared annoyed, and his stomach fell at what was going to be said to him.

Sirius stared down at him stone faced, his grey eyes cold and unrelenting as they bore straight into his. Remus marveled for a moment with just how much his friend resembled his father in that moment. It was a realization that was both impressive and terrifying all at once.

"You are trying to avoid us," said Sirius, his voice hard. "We have been searching for you all day."

James made a strange movement that made Remus suspect that he had wanted to place a hand on Sirius' shoulder but thought better of it. Instead, he sighed and looked out towards the window and didn't say anything. Peter was looking between Remus and Sirius nervously, his eyes bright.

"Surely, it's nothing, Sirius!" Peter said hurriedly, stepping closer to Remus so that he was beside him. "Remus has been under a lot of stress lately. The whole Umbridge incident and his mother being unwell could be taking a toll on him."

Sirius glared at Peter for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Remus. "Do you really think that avoiding your friends is going to solve all of your problems?"

"Sirius, that's uncalled for." James turned his attention away from the window, eyes blazing with anger. "Instead of being angry with Remus, perhaps we should focus on what to do about Umbridge? Or have you forgotten about what happened last night?"

The silence that followed was deafening. Remus made to get up and put himself in between James and Sirius, worried that the two would draw out their wands, but he couldn't get out of the chair. Sirius appeared as though he was in shock, opening his mouth once before closing it in a tight white line. It seemed that all conversation in the common room stopped, and Remus felt as though they were now all the centre of attention.

Remus thought quickly as he looked over to where Lily sat with her back to them, her attention still on the Daily Prophet. He didn't like his friends fighting, especially over his selfishness. He couldn't stand the idea of breaking up such a strong friendship anymore than he could stand losing his friends forever.

"I didn't mean to avoid all of you," he said hurriedly, feeling his face go red as both James and Sirius turned to face him, but he pushed himself to continue. "I have been doing research on the blood quills all morning. I… I feel that the only way that we can get Umbridge is by beating her at her own game." He pressed on when he saw the way that James and Sirius looked at one another, and the way that Peter's breath seemed to hitch as though expecting Umbridge to catch them at any moment. "If we were to expose her for using dark magic in her punishments, then maybe we can get her out of the school and into a cell in Azkaban."

Sirius gave Remus an appraising look before mulling over his words thoughtfully. "But you said that you think that Umbridge is here on behalf of the Ministry. You said that the Ministry is interfering with Hogwarts. Wouldn't it be near impossible to get her into trouble if she's here on behalf of the Minister of Magic?"

"What about McGonagall?" James asked suddenly. "I bet that if McGonagall knew what has been going on…"

Remus shook his head. "I don't want to get her involved. She's already done more than enough and she's in a lot of trouble already."

"But, she's the Deputy Headmistress!" James said in frustration. He began pacing in front of Remus, his brow knitted in thought. "That has to mean something right? Dumbledore has his hands full with the Ministry as it is without Umbridge's help. This latest Death Eater attack…" James hesitated for a moment as he struggled with controlling his anger. "Blimey, an entire family this time! Poor Mary Ann Aguillard found out by opening the Daily Prophet this morning during breakfast. She couldn't stop screaming and crying until McGonagall and Flitwick managed to get her to Madam Pomfrey."

Sirius fell heavily into the chair next to Remus and rubbed at the side of his head absentmindedly. "McGonagall has her hands full, too. I don't think she's going to be much help here. It seems that Remus' idea is best in getting rid of the old Toad." He stopped looking miserable for a moment before looking over at where James stood near the fireplace. "Did you see the expression on Umbridge's face when she heard Aguillard's screams? She looked so happy finding out about this Death Eater attack!"

"Are you saying that Umbridge is a Death Eater?" Peter asked with a panicked look on his face. His tiny eyes darted nervously between Sirius, Remus and James. The idea that one of their professors was a potential Death Eater seemed to terrify Peter so much that it took them thirty minutes to convince him that Dumbledore wouldn't have hired somebody who had joined Voldemort's cause.

"She's evil enough to be a Death Eater," said Peter with a shudder. "The way she goes on about muggle-borns and targets those that she thinks are unworthy of being here. I would be very surprised if she wasn't sympathetic to the Voldemort. Only a Death Eater would force somebody to write out something in their own blood and have it branded into their hand forever!"

"… I don't think this is such a great idea."

Actually, Remus thought that this was one of the worst ideas that Sirius and James ever thought of, but as he had agreed to breaking into Umbridge's office while everyone was at supper, he knew he didn't have room to talk about what was and what wasn't a good plan.

"Sh, Remus!" Sirius hissed into his ear as James took out his wand and worked on unlocking the door in front of them. "This is the only way we can collect evidence of Umbridge's wrongdoing. We can build a case against her that is strong enough to get her out of Hogwarts."

The silence of the hallway fell heavily upon them, and Remus felt as though it was an oppressive weight that left him feeling nervous. He looked up and down the hallway looking for signs of life, but it was empty of anyone else. He briefly wondered if Umbridge would have stronger protection charms that would alert her to any strange activity in her rooms before James let out a soft cry of victory and pushed open the door.

"Remember that Umbridge is usually down in the Great Hall with the other for at least forty minutes," James whispered to them as they crept into the darkness of the room. "That should give us enough time to find what we are looking for. Hang on before you close that door, Remus… Lumos." The tip of his wand lit up and Remus shut the door behind them.

"Lumos," Remus muttered under his breath and heard Sirius do the same behind him. He took a step back away from the door before he turned to his friends. "We remember the plan, right?"

Sirius nodded glumly, peering around the room with his wand held high above him. "Are we sure that Peter knows what to do? The charm that we taught him this afternoon that will alert us that Umbridge is on her way is very advanced magic. We should have let Remus be the person to watch Umbridge…"

"I think Peter will manage. He was able to cast the charm successfully before we left," said Remus, throwing Sirius a disapproving look as they moved further into the office. "You don't give Peter enough credit. The only thing he lacks is confidence. He is rather intelligent."

"I am not saying he's stupid. I don't want to get caught red handed by Umbridge, is all. I don't fancy spending another evening carving lines into my hand again."

"We won't let that happen. Even if the charm doesn't work, Peter won't let us down. We have James' cloak that we can all hide under if it comes to escaping this room." Remus stopped at Umbridge's desk and sat down in the chair beside it. He studied the ornate drawers with narrowed eyes. Whoever had designed the desk had been inspired by Celtic runes and had carefully etched them into the wood. "Let's just get this over with before we are out of time."

He opened the middle drawer, removed a folder thick with papers and placed it on the desk and peered inside. There was nothing else inside the drawer except for spare parchment and a few quills. Sirius moved away from the desk to examine a shelf filled with books and file folders that were clearly from the Ministry. James remained with Remus, helping him with a second drawer that refused to open.

"You don't think that this one has been enchanted, do you?" James panted as he tugged uselessly at the drawer's handle. "Do you reckon we should try an unlocking spell?"

Remus thought quickly. "No, I think we should open that one up later. Who knows what is in that drawer or what spell Umbridge has used to prevent it from being opened by the wrong person. It could be a curse that could leave lasting damage to whoever tries to open it."

The third drawer proved to contain exactly what they had come in for. In it was a simple black box that had a collection of Blood Quills within it. Remus smiled as he held up the quill and studied it before handing it off to James to wrap up in a handkerchief and shove it into his bag disgustedly.

"Okay, let's go get Sirius and get out of here." James stood up quickly and looked over towards where Sirius was and stepped towards him. "Hey, Sirius. We can leave now…"

Sirius slowly turned towards them, a folder held tightly in his hands and his face as white as a sheet. He held up a piece of parchment that had the Ministry of Magic insignia on it. He didn't speak a word to them. As a matter of fact, Remus thought that he could sense that Sirius was too terrified to speak.

"Knock it off, Sirius." James was annoyed now. "We need to leave before we are discovered."

Without saying a word to them, Sirius opened the folder to reveal a student file that had been stamped with 'Matter for the MoM'. Remus felt the blood drain from his face when he realized that the file was all about him.

"Why would Umbridge have a file on you, Remus?" Sirius asked, his eyes locking on his with such intensity that Remus took a step back. "I can't read much into the file to find out myself, the pages have been wiped magically to prevent that."

James glanced between the two of them, his face carefully blank and void of expression. "I am sure there's a logical explanation for this. Remus is her student. She probably has files on all of us hidden throughout this room."

"I was thinking the same thing," Sirius said icily, his gaze still on Remus. "Only thing is that there are no other files about any of us here. It's just Remus." He held up the file and showed it to them. "It's way too thick to be talking about the performance of a student and their grades. It wouldn't have anything to do with the letter that I found in here requesting a formal investigation into why a werewolf was allowed to enter this school would it?"

For a moment there was an awful silence. Remus struggled to find something to say, something that would get him out of this dangerous situation, but for once he was at a loss for words. Before anyone could say anything, the sound of Peter yelling from down the hallway was heard.

"Umbridge!" James hissed frantically, tugging out his Invisibility Cloak from his bag and turning out the light from his wand. He pulled Remus closer towards him, glanced over at Sirius who stood frozen in place with eyes wide and terrified and looked pleadingly at him. "Sirius, we can work this all out later. I am sure there's a logical explanation for that file, but we need to move now, or we will be caught!"

Sirius nodded his head to show that he understood before he dashed quickly to the bookcase and returned the thick folder to its shelf. He hurried to where they stood, whispered "Nox" to turn off the light from his wand and allowed Remus to pull him along to a corner closest to the door.

"Can you put that light out?" James said to Remus. "We may be invisible, but the Cloak doesn't hide light!"

Remus thought hard, his mind forming a strategy to get his friends out of danger. The only way to get out of the room without being discovered would be to wait until the door was opened by Umbridge. In order for their escape to be successful, they needed to get as close to the door as possible, and without making any noise. He voiced his plan to his friends, waiting for their nods to know that they understood before he muttered "Nox" and they were suddenly thrown into darkness.

He felt around in the dark and found someone's wrist and touched it and heard James' sharp intake of air. "We need to follow the wall towards the door. It isn't far from here. We need to get as close to it so that when it is opened, we can escape."

By the time they heard Umbridge just outside of the door, the three of them were in position. Remus hoped that they were all still covered by the Cloak but didn't dare light his wand to check. Beside him, Sirius held onto him tightly, his fingers digging into his skin so that it hurt. As if reading his mind, James quickly felt around them and quietly affirmed that the Cloak covered them.

"… I know that you and your friends are up to something!" They heard Umbridge say on the other side of the door.

"But Professor, I've already told you that I am worried about what grade I may have received on my last assignment."

"And you thought that by yelling out your concerns about your grades in the Great Hall where everyone could hear you was the way to get my attention?"

"Yes, Professor. You see, you make yourself so unapproachable, I thought it was a good idea to get your attention where everyone was a witness."

"You couldn't wait until Monday?"

Remus swore that he could feel Peter thinking hard now. "No, Professor. I am worried about it now and need to know that I am passing this course."

"I am very sorry, Mr. Pettigrew. I've made it very clear what my office hours are, and the weekends certainly are not days that I speak to students unless it is an absolute emergency. You will have to come see me on Monday."

The door finally opened wide and Umbridge marched inside. Seconds later, the room was bright with light as every candle in the room had been lit with a wave of her small wand. Before any of them could move however, Umbridge had started to close the door only to find that Peter had followed her inside.

"Mr. Pettigrew, I do not have the patience to deal with you tonight," Umbridge snapped as her eyes darted around her office. "I am certain that you and your friends are up to something. After all, why weren't they in the Great Hall with you?"

Sirius touched Remus' arm and nodded his head towards the door. It was now or never. If they didn't try to leave now, they would be stuck with Umbridge and who knew how long it would be until they could safely leave the room again without her finding out they were there. As silently and carefully as they could, they got out of the office and took off down the hall, trying their best to remain as quiet as possible. They didn't stop running until they put as much distance as they could between Umbridge's office before they came to a stop outside of an unused classroom. Without saying a word, Sirius opened the door and shoved Remus inside it and pushed him into a chair.

"What do you think you're playing at, Sirius?" James hissed indignantly as he followed after them. He shoved his Cloak into his bag and stood in the doorway, watching Sirius warily.

Sirius didn't release his hold of Remus until after he ensured that they were alone, and that the door was shut. He grabbed for another chair and placed it right in front of Remus and took a seat.

"It's time for answers," said Sirius angrily. "I want to know what is going on and why Umbridge forced you to write 'Monster' for your detention. I want to know why she's been targeting you. Why does she have a file on you? What does it mean when she's called for an investigation to expose a werewolf that she feels has infiltrated Hogwarts?"

James rushed forward and put himself in front of Remus. "Sirius listen to yourself! How can Remus possibly know why that file exists? It could be that Umbridge isn't the most organized professors. It seems that she just put Remus' school file in another location and placed a letter talking about another matter into it…"

Sirius ignored him. "Tell me the truth, Remus. Your monthly disappearances have nothing to do with your mother, do they? The reason for why you disappear is because it is you that is sick, right? The reason for why you look horrible isn't because you get into scrapes with the Slytherins but because you are sick and need treatment for your illness. That is why the teachers are lenient with you! That is why McGonagall comes to collect you. It isn't because you need to return home, it's because you are the one that needs help."

Remus felt as though a cold hand had reached into his chest and clenched his heart tightly, squeezing it so hard that he felt as though he couldn't breathe. He looked wildly from James to Sirius, unable to say a word because he had no idea what to say. It was his worst nightmare coming true. He was finally being cornered by his friends who demanded to know the truth, and then he was going to be attacked by the very people that he loved and chased from Hogwarts. He was so deep in his thoughts that he only became aware of the raging argument above him when Sirius sprung up from his chair and James had grabbed him round the middle and threw him back down in the chair.

"I am sure there is a logical explanation, Sirius!" James yelled, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. "There is no need to blame Remus for any of this."

"I am not blaming him for anything!" Sirius yelled back. "It's just for once I want to know the truth because he's been lying to us since the beginning."

"What do you think you are doing just by saying that? You're blaming him! So, what if he doesn't want to tell you what's going on? Do you think it is any of your business? If he wants to tell us what is wrong then let him, but if not then you need to respect that!"

"You don't think that I haven't been respecting him…"

"Not now you're not!" James roared, angrier than he had ever been before. "You seem to think that a file in a teacher's shelf proves your theory that Remus is some kind of…"

"There was a letter addressed to the Ministry asking for an investigation..."

"What made you grab for the file, anyway?" James interrupted furiously. "What made you want to open it and read through it?"

Sirius jumped to his feet so quickly that the chair he had been sitting in fell to the floor with a crash. The loud noise made Remus jump and cover his ears. "Remus is our friend, James! This person has been targeting him for a reason. We both know Umbridge and what she's like. There's something going on here and I don't like the idea of knowing that somebody that I am great friends with is at risk by somebody who seems to think that she's got something on him. This woman has destroyed many peoples lives! If she's got it in for one of my best friends, I want to know what is going on so I can at least help him!"

For a moment there was silence, but then James looked round to Remus who sat white-faced and miserable behind him. He turned to face Sirius who seemed to be horrified by what had just happened and stepped closer towards him with his hands held up to show that he was no longer fighting. "What would you have done if you had found something that you weren't expecting in that folder?"

The question was asked so softly that it seemed that Sirius didn't hear it, but a few seconds later his face softened as all anger seemed to lift away from him. He was silent for a few moments, obviously struggling with what he wanted to say, but then he turned to Remus and shook his head. "Whatever was in that folder wouldn't have affected our friendship one bit. We both know what Umbridge knows about you and why she's been torturing you since she first laid eyes on you. However, having it confirmed in that report wouldn't ever damage our friendship."

Remus didn't know what to think about any of this. He felt overwhelmed and heartsick, and he suddenly felt exhaustion hit him. He pushed himself up from his chair and staggered over to the door. For a few moments, he stood in the doorway without moving before he looked behind him to where his two best friends stood watching him. Then, without saying a word, he pulled open the door and disappeared from the room.