Queen of Disaster | 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑠 𝐿𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑛

Chapter 97

"You shouldn't have come here so soon after transforming," Diana told Remus, glancing outside her window from where the two of them laid on her bed, under the covers and in each other's arms. The sun had just begun to rise in the horizon, the full moon slowly disappearing as the morning emerged.

"I couldn't wait any longer. I had to talk to you," he said, the dark bags under his eyes barely noticeable now that his face was covered with fresh wounds. "The thought of you being upset with me... I... I felt too guilty to wait a second longer."

Diana sighed. "I mean, I was upset, but... I still knew you were only saying all that because of the full moon."

"What I said was still hurtful, full moon or not,"  Remus said earnestly, playing with Diana's long, curly hair as she was resting her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, but you still must've gone through a lot of pain to Apparate here right after transforming. You haven't even healed your wounds yet."

Remus raised his hand to his face and gently touched the big scratch that ran across his cheek to see if he was still bleeding or not. When he retrieved his hand, he saw a faint blood on his fingertips and grimaced.

"I'd never seen you with so many wounds and scratches," Diana said worriedly, glancing down at his hands. "It must've been a rough full moon this month."

"It's not a big deal. I always hurt myself more when —" Remus stopped himself before he could bring up his friends' names.

They were unregistered Animagi. If somebody from the Ministry found out about them, they could easily get locked up in Azkaban for a few months. Besides, this wasn't his secret to tell. Just like how his friends would never tell Remus's secret to anyone, Remus would never tell anyone theirs. That was the Marauder's code.

"— when I'm not at Hogwarts," he completed the sentence. It was true enough.

"Where do you transform back at home?" Diana asked.

"I used to transform in my own bedroom when I was a kid. My dad had placed many protection charms to keep me locked inside. But now that I've grown older, I've also become stronger. The charms can't hold me back anymore. So for a few years now, whenever I'm home and can't transform in the Shrieking Shack, my dad drives me to a forest with my mother's car, a few hours before dusk."

"Where's this forest? Is it close to your house?"

"Not really." He shook his head lightly. "It's actually far away from any human town. I stay locked inside a wooden cabin in the forest throughout the night."

"I see..." Diana's voice trailed off. Each time she thought about the life Remus had to live since he'd been five years old, her heart clenched in pain.

"I just had an idea," Remus started after a short pause of silence, grabbing her attention again. "How about this: one week before each full moon, we avoid seeing each other completely."

Diana laughed. "What?"

"It makes sense!" he said with a little chuckle. "I get crazy im the few days before a full moon and I always do something I'll regret later. So maybe we could avoid talking to each other altogether during this time, so this way I won't say anything to hurt you."