“Mate, wake up,” I heard
James whisper. I snorted a little, which caused a few students to
turn around and stare, and sat up to read my History of Magic
textbook.

“How long was I -”

“About ten minutes. You
only missed a section of lecturing.” he said quietly, loosening his
tie.

“What section?”

“The third one.” James
said, leaning back in his seat, placing his feet on Peter's desk. I
glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes to go.

I usually excelled at History
of Magic. Loved it, even. But ever since almost a week ago, when
Rachel decided she never wanted to speak with me again, I couldn't
concentrate on studies. I couldn't concentrate on anything, really.
All I could think about was Rachel and the way she glared at me right
before she stormed up to her dormitories.

“Now, students, I want you
all to know that the goblins had more than one reason for rebelling,”
Professor Binns said, his voice in a monotone. “Most people think
that it was only the fact that wizards were stealing their gold and
such. But the goblins also wanted control over Hogwarts. They all
respected Phineas Black, the headmaster at the time, but they greatly
disliked the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Galatea
Merrythought -” I had stopped listening by then. All I was thinking
about was Rachel. Don't invite me to the library. Don't sit by me
in class. Should've stayed away. Not worth any more than the rat in
the cellar. The words ringing in
my head,
causing me to tune out
from Binns'
lecture.

Luckily,
History of Magic was our last class. When
he dismissed us, I dragged
myself to the common room and was
about to fall onto the couch when I heard a “Er – hey, Remus.”

I spun around to see Rachel
half-smiling where I was about to lay on the couch. She had her dark
waves down, and her uniform was still on. She had dark circles under
her eyes, however, which told me that she hadn't been sleeping
lately. She sighed a little when she caught my eye.

I started to walk to the
dormitories. I could barely handle seeing her face, much less her
screaming at me.

“Remus, wait.” I turned
around slowly, taking deep breaths. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't be
a wuss. Rachel took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

“I wanted to – I wanted
to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything I said the other night. You
know how you feel when you hear some - startling news. That's what I
felt when I figured out about – you know. And, Remus, you are worth
so much more than the rat in the cellar. I was – I was scared. And
it hurt me to see my friends the way they were. But I shouldn't have
taken it all out on you. It wasn't your fault. I'm sorry.” I saw a
single tear fall down her cheek.

When I finally found my
voice, I began to speak:

“Don't
apologize. You know it really was my fault. Anyone with any sense
would have done what you did. I'm
sorry.” She was really crying now. Not necessarily sad tears,
though. She was smiling. I sat down beside her and pulled her into a
hug. She laid her head on my shoulder, sobbing into my sweater.

“I'm so sorry,” I said,
rubbing her back. When we broke apart, she stared at me, wiping her
eyes.

“I didn't mean to do this
to you,” she said. I shook my head.

“Me neither.”

“You didn't do anything.”
I frowned. How could she forget about my secret?

“Yeah, I did. I did
everything, Rachel. And this is the part where you forget about me
forever and live a life without worrying about me ever again.” I
wiped my eyes furiously. Rachel looked at me, confused.

“I don't get it.” she
frowned at my frustrated face.

“I'm a monster! I'm a
werewolf! How could you forget?” I was really crying. She frowned.

“Remus, I really don't
understand -”

“You
should! I could kill you! Aren't you scared? Terrified? Don't you
want to run away screaming?” Rachel
whispered “oh,”
multiple tears streaming down her face.

But
she didn't do what I expected. She
brought her face to mine until our lips were touching. I stood there
in shock for a moment, but as soon as I understood what was
happening, she broke away.

“Remus,”
she whispered, her forehead pressed to mine, “I will never think of
you as a monster.
I'm not scared of you. I will never leave you.” I
was about to protest, to tell her she was mistaken, when she smashed
her lips to mine again.

I
will never leave you.