"Remus has a girlfriend, Remus has a girlfriend!" Sirius chanted juvenilely as he shut the dorm room door behind the two. James looked up from his Defense Against Dark Arts text with an amused expression.

Setting his book bag on his bed, Remus pretended that his face wasn't scarlet. "Sirius, stop acting like a child. I have no such thing." He pulled out his Potions book and took off his shoes before propping himself on the impeccably made bed.

Sirius gasped. "Remus! How dare you call your girlfriend a thing. Women are not objects; they are living, breathing creatures."

James stifled a chuckle at Sirius's dramatics and turned to Remus. "Who is he talking about?" He asked.

Remus turned even redder and opened up his book.

"Kylie, that Ravenclaw girl that we see in the library when we fetch Remus for being socially isolated for too long." Sirius grinned, "I guess there wasn't much social isolation going on after all."

Remus rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "We barely even talk to each other so I really don't know how you could make such an assumption."

James's mouth formed a grin much like Sirius's. "Well, I'm sure you two aren't dating, but based on the colour of your face, you probably wouldn't oppose the situation, should it ever be presented to you."

"It shall be presented to you!" Sirius declared, triumphantly standing on his bed. "As your best mates, our duty is to make you sound like the most brilliant, most intellectual, most charming…"

"Most sophisticated," James added.

"Most enticing,"

"Most satisfying,"

"Most sexually experienced,"

"Most delicious,"

"Most fantastic and all-around-greatest-guy in Hogwarts History," finished Sirius, a content smile on his face.

Remus didn't know if he should be horrified, amused or flattered by his friends' words. Usually, he just blinked and went back to whatever he was doing, but Remus didn't want his chances of even having a friendship with Kylie to be completely ruined by his friends' antics.

"Alright!" He said, exasperated, "I fancy her a bit. But only just a bit. So, I would appreciate it if you two just left it alone."

"Aw, now was that so hard?" Sirius asked, jumping from his bed to the floor. "It's about time. Tsk, tsk, 15 years old without a first kiss. But now you have a standing chance, so you must pursue the relationship immediately. Care to follow the grand and all-knowing dating advice of Sirius Black?"

This time, Remus just blinked. "No."

Even James rolled his eyes at Sirius's last comment, which Sirius saw.

"Oh, and you're the expert in this area," Sirius said, brow raised.

Remus knew where the conversation would go. He sighed and closed his book, knowing that any studying would be futile.

"I happen to be an expert, she just hasn't said yes yet," James countered weakly.

"If you're such an expert, then why does she seem more interested in Snape than a man of your character?" Sirius asked.

"Do you two really have to start this now?" Remus interrupted. He regretted reminding the two that he was still in the room, as the conversation quickly turned back to him.

"Ah, good one Moony; Distracting James and I from your personal matters by pitting us against each other. But no matter," Sirius said, walking over to the boy, "Your girlfriend will be in the up most of our priorities."

"Remus has a girlfriend?" Peter asked, entering the dorm room.

Sirius and James grinned. Remus groaned.

Ten minutes later, the three entered the Great Hall for lunch. Because it was Friday, the only classes held were in the morning. Remus felt a little irritated that the next full moon would be on that Sunday. Missing class gave him a sense of dread, especially in the middle of the semester. However, his grades never reflected his absences. Most of the time he spent in the Infirmary was dedicated to homework and studying.

"There," Sirius said, motioning his head in the direction of the Ravenclaw table. "The blonde with the blue shirt."

James's face bloomed recognition. "Oh right, I remember her. 4th year, right?"

Remus couldn't help but follow the other boys' gaze to the brown-eyed girl. Remus liked her subtleness; she wasn't the most popular, nor categorized as a loser. Her lack of particularly curvy curves or busty breasts left her out of the 'hot' crowd, but her body wasn't unattractive.

"Not bad," James approved. A small relief spread through Remus, his need for approval satisfied. "A perfect match for you, really," he continued absently, "Nerdy, kind of shy. A bit more athletic than you, I suppose. She was Ravenclaw's keeper last year, right?"

Remus nodded and uncomfortably took some food. The conversation immediately turned to the current Quidditch practices and standings.

Paying little attention to anything other than the terrible scraping sounds of forks, knives, and plates, Remus stayed silent. It didn't take very long for the sounds to overwhelm him, especially so close to the full moon. His head pounding, he stood up.

"My heads killing me, I'm gonna go get something from Madame Pomfrey before I explode." With a short sympathetic look from his friends, Remus walked out of the Great Hall and started heading towards the Infirmary.

Hands in his pockets, Remus looked around at all the paintings and moving staircases. After visiting the Infirmary at least once a month for five years, he knew how to get there. He maneuvered through a few more hallways, and then his eyes widened.

At the end of the hallway walked Kylie. She seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, and Remus felt an incredible discomfort consume him. With no other way to the Infirmary than this, he continued walking. He kept his eyes low and his head down, avoiding any sort of awkward confrontation. Ten more steps and then she would be behind him. 8, 7, 6, 5, he felt a blush creep up his neck to his face, 3, 2, he looked up just enough to meet her eye and bit down on his lip hard. He offered a small, polite smile and kept walking, feeling extremely embarrassed.

"Um, Remus?" Kylie asked. He was surprised that she even remembered his name.

Shaking off shock, he turned to face her. "Um, yes?" Very articulate.

"Have you seen a cat? I just went up to give him some treats from lunch when he, um, darted out the common room door." She explained, her face forming concern.

Remus sincerely wished that he could say yes. Instead, he shook his head. "Sorry, I haven't."

She sighed. "Alright, well thank you anyways." She paused. "If you see him, then give him to another Ravenclaw. He's about this big and is silver with white paws," She explained, talking with her hands.

Remus nodded, still blushing, and picked at his nails as she spoke. "I-I will." Nice stutter.

She gave him an awkward smile and started to walk in the opposite direction. Suddenly, Remus realized that a chance had been presented to him. Say something!

"Wait," He said, and she stopped walking and turned around. He inwardly smashed his head on the wall as his mind drew a blank. Thinking as quickly as he could, he blurted the first question that came to mind. "Do you always keep him cooped up in your dorm room?" Not bad.

Kylie's brow furrowed at the question and she nervously ran a hand through her hair. She nodded, "Yes, why?"

"Well, um," Started Remus, "Animals like being able to run around in big places. Maybe, if you, uh, took him outside every once in a while, then he wouldn't want to run off."

Remus hoped he didn't sound as stupid as he thought. Kylie seemed to consider his words, and she smiled shyly.

"That makes sense, thanks, I'll try that sometime soon." There was an awkward pause. "Sounds like your good with animals then?"

Remus let out a bitter chuckle. Animals tended to run from him, especially around the full moon. They had enough sense to stay clear of something that wanted to eat them. "Um, not exactly. They don't seem to like me." Although the conversation was going well, Remus felt more uncomfortable by the second.

Kylie didn't pursue the question, which created another awkward silence. She tugged at the hem of her blue shirt and took a step back. "Well, I've got to go look for my cat, so I'll, uh, see you around?"

Remus smiled a little too wide. "Yeah, see you around."

With that, the two of them walked in opposite directions. Quickly, Remus played the conversation over and over again in his head. He scolded himself for sounding so stupid, but congratulated himself for actually talking to a girl. Still, he walked into the Infirmary grinning and blushing.

"Someone looks happy," Sirius remarked when Remus met back up with the group in the dorm. After James left for Quidditch practice, Peter lay on his bed, groaning from eating too much food, and Sirius pestered Remus.

"It's nothing," Remus lied.

Sirius took a step back and examined Remus's face in the same way that an artist examines a priceless painting. "Hmm… Good form, but terrible execution. The pink cheeks and eye-contact aversion gave it all away. Better luck next time though."

Remus sighed. As convincing as he could be to others, lies never worked with Sirius.

"It's not a big deal, I just talked with Kylie for maybe thirty seconds," Remus explained, walking towards his book bag.

"Aha!" Sirius exclaimed, "Look at our Remus, all grown up and pursuing relationships, just like big brother Sirius told him to."

"It was just a coincidence that I'd find her. She was looking for her cat."

Sirius narrowed his eyes dramatically. "That's what they all say."

"That doesn't even make any sense," commented Peter from his bed. Remus silently agreed.

Lowering his voice, Remus glanced left and right, as if spies could pop out of the walls at any given moment. "I need to get to bed earlier than usual because of, you know," He glanced at the calendar that had a big red circle around the 5th of November.

"Right," Sirius agreed, looking less dramatic. "Well you go study, and I'll go to the common room for some entertainment. Peter, keep doing a great job of not moving." With that Sirius departed.

Sunday came and went much too quickly for Remus's liking. By 6 pm, the sun was almost set. Remus packed up some clean clothes to bring to the Infirmary and started to head out of the dorm room.

"Don't worry Moony, we'll be there in a couple of hours to let you roam free," Sirius said in attempts to comfort his distressed friend.

Every full moon since the start of this year, Sirius said those exact words. Every full moon since the start of this year, something inside Remus protested such arrangements. He worried that he would run towards the castle and attack other students, but Sirius always assured him that nothing like that could ever happen. Sirius tended to be right when it came to Remus.

So when Remus started heading towards the corridors that led to the grounds, he felt confident in his friends. They would keep him safe, and he never ended up with self-mutilated injuries afterwards.

He froze when he saw Kylie walking in the same direction, silver cat in her arms.

"Hi, Remus," She said, smiling. She looked just as surprised and pleased to see him as he was. He wanted to stay and talk, but he feared losing track of time.

"Oh, sorry Kylie, I'm kind of in a hurry." He winced after the words came out of his mouth, as they sounded incredibly rude.

She looked at the wall. "Oh, um, no worries." She noticed the folded clothes in his arms. "Where exactly are you going?"

Remus hated lying. "Um, my mother is ill so Dumbledore lets me go visit her every so often," He explained with perfect tone and believability. He told the lie so many times that he easily fit the part.

Kylie's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I won't keep you then. Have a nice time with your family," She said, and walked to a different entrance to the grounds.

Remus ran a hand through his sandy locks and shook his head. One more person believing your pity story.

When Remus arrived inside the Shack, he put his clothes on the top of a bloodied dresser for safe keeping. He sat in the middle of the room and swallowed. The waiting was what he hated most. Sitting, waiting for the pain drove him crazy. He picked at his nails, tapped his foot against the floorboards, and concentrated on his breathing.

It was in those moments that Remus felt very alone. He knew his friends would keep him company shortly, but at that time he saw no one else. He felt his heart pound a little harder in his chest; his eye brows twitched. Swallowing harder, he removed every piece of clothing he had until he stood naked in the center of the disgusting room. Sirius promised time and time again that he would get James and Peter to help clean the place up, but life always got in the way.

He folded his old clothes and placed them next to the clean ones on the dresser. His muscles began to tremor. This sped up his breathing as the cycle started. Every time, Remus would come to the Shack mentally prepared for the events, and every time he would end up losing all preparation once the pain started.

"No…" He whispered, his muscles spasms becoming more and more violent after each second. It was at this moment when Remus became the child he was when he was first bitten.

"No, please," He begged, tears stinging his eyes. And then crack! His bones broke to fit their new shape. Remus let out an agonizing scream. Rip! Crack! Snap! His flesh torn and reshaping, his bones broken and reshaping. Remus screamed and screamed and screamed until his voice went sore. Then, everything went black.

Three days later, Remus woke up in St. Mungos Hospital instead of the infirmary.