No one really knew why they hated "Two-Face" Tonks so much, but they did. If asked, most people would respond with a shrug and a murmur of "Well…she's weird."

Two-Face Tonks, you see, was a Metamorphmagus. A Shape-Shifter. A Dark Creature.

Remus Lupin was not one to judge a fellow Shape-Shifter or Dark Creature, let alone reject one altogether, but he had had no choice. Entering Hogwarts for the first time, he had been alone. His father hadn't let him play with other children much, because when he was younger he tended to let the secret of his lycanthropy slip. He hadn't even been sure he would go to Hogwarts at all he was so nervous about putting so many people in danger. His first train ride to Hogwarts was a lonely one, as he had had to watch three new friends talk happily together across the train corridor from him. So happy.

Every time the long-haired handsome boy looked across at him, smiling curiously, Remus would look away. He didn't want people to be curious about him and his scars.

Then he had met Lily at the Sorting. She was far too kind and scared of her new surroundings for Remus to ignore her. She was his first friend. It wasn't until two weeks later, after his first full moon transformation and a fortnight of awkward silence in the dorm, that Remus was hailed from across the hall by two of the boys from his dorm.

"Hey you!" the handsome Black boy from the train had called. Remus hadn't thought they were talking to him, and kept his eyes on his books. "Over here!" he said louder, and Remus turned to see the Potter boy's hand outstretched toward him.

"It's Lupin, right?" he asked kindly. Remus could tell right there that they had known he was lonely, even with Lily as a friend.

"Um…well…yes!" he said shyly, not entirely sure what was in store for him. He carefully placed his heavily bandaged right hand into the other boy's, and still winced a little when the Potter boy shook it gingerly. "You're…Potter and Black…right?"

"It's James," said Potter.

"And Sirius," said Black.

Remus reluctantly felt a smile and blush creep onto his face. "Okay. I'm Remus, then," he said sheepishly. Sirius and James grinned at him.

"You want to go with us to the Owlery?" offered James. "I have to send my mum a letter every week or she has a panic attack." Remus grinned back and nodded so quickly his fringe fell into his eyes.

"I have to send my dad a letter too," he said, and began to walk alongside them.

"So what happened to your hand anyway?"

"Well, my aunt was a bit ill yesterday, and my dad can hardly take care of himself let alone another person, so I offered to go and look after her for the day. She's got this dog, you see…"

James and Sirius had gotten such a laugh out of his invented story, he kept with it every month after that.

On the first day of his second year, he came face-to-face with Two-Face Tonks when she was still happy. She had arrived at the Platform with bright blue pigtailed plaits, bouncing excitedly as her mother and father kissed her goodbye. Remus had just said goodbye to his own father, and was heading for the train when the smaller girl tripped and collided into him.

"Sorry! I'm so clumsy, sorry so very much! I wasn't look—" she broke off mid-word and blushed as she watched him straighten out his clothes. Remus took in her general appearance and felt somewhat odd around her. It was as if they were alike, but very different at the same time. She was so comfortable with her morphing ability, while Remus hated every day that brought him closer to the next change.

"It's okay," he finally managed to clear out his throat and say. He picked up the bag she hadn't realized she'd dropped and handed it to her. She grinned gratefully. "My name's Remus."

"Wotcher! My name's Nymphadora, but I don't really like that, so everyone calls me Tonks!" said Tonks excitedly. She smiled, and Remus noticed the cutest gap in her front teeth he had ever seen. "Hey, you don't know where I could find Sirius Black, do you?"

"Oh yeah, he should be—" Remus began, but a hand seized the back of his hair and began pulling him toward the train.

"You shouldn't be talking to one of those, Remus, you can never trust someone who never shows their real face," said James sagely, pulling his friend onto the train behind him and not caring if the Tonks girl heard or not. Remus managed to keep his nervous blush away from his face.

"She just wanted to know where Sirius was," he said nervously. James's eyes widened.

"You didn't tell it where he was, did you?" asked his friend with wide nervous eyes. Remus ignored the usage of the word 'it' instead of 'her.'

"I didn't get a chance to, you pulled me away by my head!" Remus exclaimed.

"Good. The last thing we need is a dangerous Shape-Shifter hanging around us," muttered James with a dark glare toward Tonks, whose first name was so bizarre Remus had already forgotten.

Remus certainly had never wanted to be cruel to Tonks, but it was all he could do not to cry with relief when the lads found out he was a werewolf and didn't reject him like the school had rejected Tonks. They would glare at her in the halls, sometimes hissing at her to leave Hogwarts or ramming their shoulders into her as they passed.

Remus had been unable to step in at those times in the halls, as he'd sometimes be too far away, or the people tormenting Tonks would be older than him, but when James, Sirius, and Peter joined in on the "fun," Remus knew he should have done something.

But he didn't, because he found his own selfish desire to keep his friends more important than Tonks's wellbeing and happiness. It wasn't as if he ever joined in on the pranks on her, but he always turned a blind eye. Every day he came closer to hating himself for his secondhand cruelty, but then his friends became illegal Animagi for him and he no longer was able to defy them. They were brothers now, and nothing could ever change that.

Remus tried to keep some sort of watch over Tonks as the years passed. He watched her change from a chipper blue-pigtailed little thing that went along with anything, to a sullen and defensive young woman, who still carried her purple or pink hair like a sort of trophy, but never spoke to anyone beyond class or to protect herself.

The first day of Remus's sixth year, a group of pureblood students from the school had gathered into smaller groups all along every entrance of the train, blocking certain people from getting on. They all held identical banners that read:

Half-Bloods, Mudbloods, Shape-Shifters:

GO HOME!

They chanted their new catch-phrase while they waved their banners proudly, only granting access to fellow purebloods or aristocrats who had chosen not to organize with the others. Lily was thrown violently backward from where she tried to gain access. Two entrances down, Tonks started dueling Muggle-style against Legolas Yaxley, who failed miserably with his only experience being spell-casting.

Sirius, watching the fight with much interest, let out a low whistle. "Wow, Two-Face has got some game in her!" he said, astounded. "Make a mental note gentleman: Only make a go at Two-Face when we're allowed to use magic against her."

"You forget, Padfoot, that she'll be able to use magic against us as well," Remus pointed out. Sirius furrowed his brow thoughtfully.

"I'm sure we're better duelers anyway," he shrugged. Remus shook his head and followed his friends onto the train. He loved them, but sometimes they were stupid.

With the Dark Lord's new regime against all partial-blooded students, and the Ministry's regime against Shape-Shifters, Tonks was being tortured more than ever from both sides. The Slytherins took to cornering her in the halls and verbally abusing her as well as hexing her mercilessly. If the other Marauders weren't around him (which at least one of them usually was), Remus would take shelter behind a statue and cast a Shield around Tonks, forcing away all of the Slytherins, and the find a quick getaway so he wouldn't be seen helping her.

It was almost always a fruitless effort, however, seeing as any number of hours later Remus would pretend to laugh along with his mates as they hexed her or threw dungbombs into her bag. Their unjustified hate against Two-Face nearly rivaled that of their hate of Snivellus Snape, and therefore they would do anything for another laugh.

They had no idea just how far they would go for a laugh, or what consequences it would bring them.