Forsaken

Eight
In which promises are made.

'You don't look so good, Remus,' a soft voice approached me. The room was dark and my eyes were sore. How long had I been crying. A handkerchief wiped at my eyes. 'Cheer up.' I registered the voice, it was Quin.

''Gonna be expelled,' I choked, ''gonna be hated 'gain. Gonna have to leave you, too.'

'Tell me, who told you that?'

'Dumbledore. 'Said that I'd 'ave to leave.'

'Ah-ha, and have you talked to him since then?' I shook my head. 'Let's clean you up and we can take you to see him.

Minutes later we were walking down the halls, through the array of mazes that Hogwarts is. When we came up to the entrance to Dumbledore's study, Quin whispered the password and we climbed on up. Dumbledore was waiting at his desk for me. Quin laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder as he guided me to a chair, he stood behind me as we waited for the headmaster to speak.

'You remember the conditions of your schooling, do you not, Mr. Lupin?' he began. I nodded shakily. 'You understand, then, what is to happen now that your roommates know about you.' Again I nodded. 'They understand that, too.' He waited to see if I would say anything, I didn't. 'Extraneous factors notwithstanding, an expulsion seems to be in order.'

'…Extraneous factors?' I parroted.

He looked shocked, like he had to go back and think about what he meant. 'You friends ask that I allow you to stay. They said that the only thing against you is something you cannot change. They asked me to let you argue your position,' his eyes smiled, 'go ahead, Mr. Lupin.'

'I'm a werewolf, Headmaster.'

'That would seem to be the case, wouldn't it?'

'I want to learn,' I mumbled. 'I want to learn,' I repeated, more sure of myself. 'I want the classes and the books and… my friends.' It was, perhaps, the first time I said that would. Friends. I liked the sound of it.

He considered my words (or, knowing Dumbledore, he looked like he considered my words) for a moment. 'You friends add that you deserve to be here more than any of them. Mr. Black, as I recall, was quite adamant. Now, go get some sleep, you're expected in class tomorrow morning.'

The words sunk in. I could stay! My biggest fear was revoked. Quin led me out of the office and down the halls. I was thankful that he knew where he was going because I was too shocked to think. We were close to the Gryffindor dorm when I pulled on his arm to stop him.

'I can stay?'

'Of course,' he said as if there was never any doubt. 'Dumbledore said that rules are rules and he could not make an exception for you. Black said that you were an exception already. Potter said that you are the best student he can think of. They all said that it didn't matter to them. Remus, they're not going to let you fail and I'm not either. Nor is Dumbledore, believe it or not. Now, let's get you to your bed.'

We paused by the Fat Lady and I gave the password, as he could not and we marched up the stairs. Something told me that Quin should not have been there, but it was comforting to have him with me. It gave me some courage to face James, Peter and Sirius. I opened the door to my room, and Quin walked in, right behind me. They were sitting on James' bed, which faced the door.

'This is where I take leave,' Quin whispered, as he embraced me. 'Take care.' He turned and left. His footsteps fell on the stone stairwell, echoing through the halls to tell of his departure.

'Don't just stand there,' Sirius said after a moment. As he beckoned me I looked at them. They seemed to be controlling themselves, from what I wasn't sure. I smelled the tang of uncertainty and the bitter tinge of fear.

'We knew,' James stated, 'before this morning. We knew.'

'Gone every month at the moon, sickly… your eating habits,' Sirius continued, 'we put it together.'

'We suspected… and we were right,' Peter regretted.

'I don't want your pity.'

'We asked Dumbledore to let you stay because you're our friend,' Sirius told me, 'we promised, before you came back, that we won't tell anyone. You are Remus, and as far as we care, nothing's changed between us.'

'We want to help you, we want to make it better for you because that's what friends do,' James added.

'My parents, in an attempt to be humane tried to. They couldn't. I'm stuck like this. Doomed to have no one. That's life for a werewolf.' I crawled into my bed.

'But it doesn't have to be,' Sirius replied as I closed the curtains.