Beyond Rumours | Remus Lupin x Reader

Chapter Twenty

Y/N MALFOY

Sunday, 18th of December 1977

"Hey, Y/n! Earth to Y/n!"

I snapped my head to Sirius, who was clicking his fingers in my face.

"Huh?" I responded, having missed the entire conversation.

"What're you so deep in thought about?" he inquired.

I blinked and quickly came up with a lie. "Um... the Yule Ball."

Remus looked over as I said the words and smiled bashfully, and I felt a pang of guilt for lying. I had, in fact, been thinking about the fact that he, Remus John Lupin – the kind, smart boy I fancied – turned into a werewolf every month.

I'd been raised knowing that werewolves were dark creatures, but looking at Remus, I couldn't see it. Couldn't see him being a bad person, see him wanting to hurt others. But werewolves were supposed to be bad, uncontrollable, animals...

Did it change how I saw him at all? I looked to the boy in question, who was laughing at something Sirius had said. His smile brightened the whole room, his eyes crinkling slightly at the corners. As I felt my heart warm, I realised no, it didn't matter. He was still my friend, still the boy who made me breathless and made me forget how to speak and made my heart beat a million times faster.

He was still Remus.

"I'll be right back," I said suddenly, standing up.

Everyone looked at me as I left the common room, but no one followed. I walked the familiar path to the library, and hurried past Madam Pince, who's eyes pierced into me as I passed. I walked down rows and rows of shelves, and stopped at one of them, grabbing a book and reading the title.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

We were supposed to learn about werewolves in our fourth year of Defence Against the Dark Arts, but our teacher was terrible, so we ended up missing out a lot that year. I flipped through the pages of the book, past basilisks and dragons and ghouls, until I landed on page three-hundred and ninety-four.

Werewolves.

They were rated XXXXX – the most dangerous rating in the book. My eyes skimmed over the pages, gobbling up all the information.

The werewolf is found worldwide, though it is believed to have originated in northern Europe. Humans turn into werewolves only when bitten.

Only when bitten. That must have been absolutely traumatic for him – being bitten by a werewolf. I wondered how old he'd been, if he was recently turned, or had been going through this for a long time.

There is no known cure.

No cure. Maybe I'd invent one for him. Maybe I could study werewolves and become a potioneer, and brew a potion that prevented his lycanthropy. It sounded difficult and challenging, but I'd do it.

Merlin, I was whipped.

I continued to read as I slowly walked down the aisle, and got to the end before I turned and smacked straight into someone. The book fell out of my hands and to the floor, and I looked up to see Remus standing in front of me.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," he said, a small smile forming on his face.

His words brought me back to the first time we'd met like this, and then the most recent. I couldn't help but look away, a bashful smile forming on my own face. Remus reached down and picked up the book and observed the cover, which wiped the grin from my face.