Calista stared out of her dormitory window as the gnarled tree was levitated inside the grounds. The Whomping Willow. There were whispers, hints, for the reasons this deformed tree was here. Some said the tree was to guard a passageway to hidden wealth. Others said it was just a precaution against danger coming in from outside Hogwarts. But if there was danger, why wouldn't Dumbledore just seal the passageway? Cali didn't try to understand the real reason for it. But there was one rumor, one she was tempted to believe. A rumor that the tree guarded the way to a hidden house: a shack, where someone could go so they wouldn't harm anyone. That someone was a new student. A werewolf. Cali couldn't understand why a werewolf would be allowed into the school. There were bound to be deaths! But that's probably all it was, a rumor. It couldn't be true.

"Remus! REMUS!"

"What?"

"Wait up!" Cali ran to catch up with her friends. It was their fifth year at Hogwarts and they were as inseparable as they had been their first year.

"Yeah, Moony, wait up for your missus!"

"I am not his anything, thank you very much, James," Cali retorted.

"Oh, I beg to differ," Sirius said, smiling.

"Shut up," Cali growled. Remus smiled.

"Yeah, you guys, they're just study partners!" Peter panted to catch up with them.

"Yeah, right. Study partners," Sirius laughed. Cali glared at him fiercely.

"Whoa, now, Cali, don't get mad, now. We were just joking."

"Yeah, don't go all batty on us!" James laughed. They were referring to her animagus, a vampire bat. Cali glared again. A student animagus was not exactly permitted; they all had gotten special permission from the Ministry through Dumbledore, who had insisted it was a safety precaution for the school. But there were rules. They could never tell or show anyone other than each other.

"James, not so loud, you git!"

"What? It's just an expression," he said, seeming to imply no one was clever enough to travel the "Animagus" train of thought.

Remus was the werewolf that had arrived at the beginning of her first year at Hogwarts, the reason for the Whomping Willow. She, James, Sirius, and Peter had become Anmagi to protect him when he transformed. Her job was to make sure no one came near the Shrieking Shack, where they went every full moon. If Remus got too wild and hurt one of them, Cali would bite him severely enough to render him unconscious, but with enough control that her venom didn't kill him.

Cali's friends were right. She did like Remus, despite the fact that he was a werewolf. They all knew it, but all Remus and Cali talked about was school and work, so she didn't have time to tell him how she felt. It was remarkable how oblivious he could be.

"When is the full moon?" she asked, even though she already knew.

"Tomorrow night," James said gravely.

"Shouldn't you be resting then?" she directed to Remus.

"I'll be fine," he said quickly. His face had been glued to his book the entire time. Cali snatched it away.

"Give that back!" he yelled.

"No! You read enough during class!" Cali peeked at the cover: Werewolves and Their Lifestyles.

"Are you kidding me? You're reading about yourself?" her jaw dropped.

"Yes, now give it back. I have research to do," he said quietly. He only got quiet when he was very upset or very determined. Cali supposed it was the latter, but she was still frustrated with him and his obsession with books.

"Fine, here," she shoved it into his chest. He agilely caught it before it had a chance to slip onto the floor.

"Cali!" Lily called from across the corridor.

"I have to go," she said, running off.

"Now see what you did, Moony? She'll never go out with you now," James said, eyeing Lily.

"Yeah, mate. You are always looking at some book. Never at her!" Sirius said, watching James. Drool was hanging off of his friend's lip.

"Who said I wanted to date her?" Remus said, closing the book. James had now caught his attention as well.

"What's up with you, mate?" he asked incredulously.

"Lil…"

"Oh, no, he's salivating over Evans again. We'd better go," Sirius said, pulling Remus and Peter away from James. It took him five minutes to realize they were gone.

"Hey! I'm not that obsessed with her!" he yelled down the empty corridor. His friends were nowhere to be seen. Lily stared at him, eyes widening. James turned his face to her and then looked around wildly for an excuse. When he couldn't find one, he ran down the hallway as fast as he could.

"What was that about?" Cali asked Lily.

"He's been pursuing me for months now. I just wish he wasn't so arrogant," she sighed. "Then I might actually give him a chance."

"You would?"

"Maybe."

"I wish Remus would pursue me for a change instead of obsessing over those books all the time," Cali said.

"You have to tell him how you feel. How is he supposed to know? He doesn't even look up to see where he's going!" Lily laughed, but stopped when she saw Cali's downcast eyes.

"I'll tell him for you," she offered.

"No, I have a better idea," Cali said.

The next night, they gathered under James' invisibility cloak and headed out, as they did every month. They gathered in the forest adjacent to the Willow so no one might look out of their dormitory window and see them transform. Cali felt Peter change into a rat and scurry under the tree to press the knot that froze the tree. James threw the cloak off the rest of them and started the change into a stag, and Sirius changed into a large black dog. Cali started waving her arms, which at first made her feel ridiculous, but soon they turned into wings and she was lifted off of the ground. Remus' back arched and he howled loudly as his eyes changed from blue to a golden green; his pupils enlarged. Cali was always slightly frightened when this happened, because if they weren't careful he could run off, and in this state…she tried not to think about it.

They chased Remus under the tree and down the grimy tunnel. The stairs soon appeared that went up into the Shrieking Shack, which was located on the outskirts of Hogsmeade Village. Luckily, Remus decided he was tired and curled up in a corner to go to sleep. Cali looked around at the boys and then flew to the window, crawling on the ledge. She looked outside to see fresh snow on the ground, the first of the season in late November. She looked back at the room and saw the dog and the stag resting as well, having decided if Remus was asleep, guard could be let down a bit. She flew up to the top of the open window and hung upside down, ready to sleep herself.

Morning came before she knew it. She woke up and flew to the floor to shift back, then got dressed in the clothes she had James carry to the shack on the stag's back. Remus was already back in his naked human shape, and Cali resisted the urge to dress him herself. She retrieved a blanket from a stack on the rickety bed and laid it over him before walking him up.

"Mmm…Cali is that you?'

"Hey, sleepy-head," she said.

"I didn't kill anyone, did I?" he asked.

"No, you fell asleep right here and slept the entire night," she said.

"Good," he mumbled, turning over. Cali tilted her head and stared at the piece of hair hanging over his face. She moved it.

"Cali, what are you doing?"

"Your hair," she laughed.

"Well, get off. I'm not a girl."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm not!" he said, still drowsy. He suddenly realized he had no clothes on.

"Where are my clothes?" he yelled, waking up and clutching the blanket.

"You tore them off when you changed, remember? Don't worry, I had James bring extra to keep in here. We had a problem getting you back to the castle without clothes. She handed him a loose brown tunic and pants.

"Thanks," he said.

"Now turn away," he ordered.

"Why?"

He raised his eyebrows at Cali as if her question was the most ridiculous phrase she had ever uttered in his presence.

"Remus…" she hesitated.

"Cali," he retorted.

"Fine," she said, covering her eyes with her fingers. He started dressing and she peeked. His back rippled as he pulled the shirt on. She giggled and turned away.

"Cali," he groaned, "I told you not to look."

"Yeah, I know," she said. "But it's hard to resist," she said, regretting it as soon as it came out of her mouth.

"Huh?"

"The others were right, you know. I do like you."

"Sirius was serious?"

Cali laughed at his phrasing. "Yes. I'm shocked you never caught up on it."

"Wow. I never thought that was possible. I'm too much of a scholar and not enough of…well, whatever James and Sirius are."

"You mean an arrogant git? I can barely put up with them as friends sometimes. You remind me of…well, me! Although I'm not such a geek."

"Hey!" he said, throwing the blanket at her now that he was dressed.

She walked over to him and started combing his hair with her fingers. He grinned sheepishly at her attention.

"Well, um, now what?"

"What do you think?"

He leaned down and put his arms around her waist. She locked her hands around his neck and their lips met. She moved her left hand up into his hair and the kiss deepened.

James and Sirius were waking up, but Cali didn't care. She kissed Remus back eagerly. She had made him finally realize what he had been missing. James and Sirius were now back in their human forms and James was looking for Peter. Sirius was watching Cali and Remus with raised eyebrows. James came back over with a sleeping rat-Peter in his hands and Sirius placed a finger on his own lips and pointed. James looked gleeful. Cali was oblivious to all this as she and Remus continued to kiss.

"Remus…" she finally mumbled. She giggled with pleasure as he began gnawing on her neck, and then saw James and Sirius staring at her.

"You'd better stop."

"Why?"

"Your friends are going to tease you later; let's not give them too much ammunition."

He broke away and wiped his mouth, trying to stutter an explanation to his friends.

"It's okay mate," Sirius said, coming over and patting him on the back.

"Yeah, we were wondering when you'd come around. We were starting to worry," James said, laughing. Cali blushed and left the Shack, hand in hand with Remus, followed by James and Sirius and a still sleeping Peter, who hadn't yet changed back. As they came up into the fresh air, Remus howled to the rising sun in happiness, and Cali smiled.