The Marauder's Tale [MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT, & PRONGS]

XIII. Confrontation

Numb. James felt completely numb. One of his best friends was a werewolf.

All right, so they weren't absolutely positive that he was a werewolf. But all the signs said that he was. What were they going to do?

Had he really be upset earlier because Lily wouldn't talk to him? How could something that trivial upset him when he had such larger issues to worry about?

"Right," he said in a would-be calm voice. "So how are we going to do this? Just walk up to him and say 'hello, Remus. So, are you a werewolf?'" Just saying the words to Peter and Sirius made him feel even sicker than he had before.

"That's probably not the best course of action," Sirius said tensely.

"How would you suggest we go about this, then?"

"I don't know." Sirius ran his hands over his face. "I don't know, James. I've never dealt with a werewolf before."

"That's not true," Peter said calmly. "You've been dealing with a werewolf every day for over a year." He shrugged. "Remus is Remus. Not a werewolf."

Sirius and James both looked at him for a moment.

"You're right, Peter," James said at last. His feeling of sickness began to ebb. "Remus is still . . . Remus. He's still our friend, and he's still the same person he was this morning."

"But he is a werewolf," Sirius said.

"And that's the Black family talking," James said bluntly, harshly. "I know that our friend Sirius would never say something like that."

Sirius flinched as though James had slapped him. "What's that all about?"

"It's like Peter said," James said. "Remus isn't a monster. He's Remus. We've been friends with him since day one. I'm not going to abandon him now because of this."

"Me, either," Peter said bravely.

Peter looked at James as though to draw support from him. James smiled at him encouragingly. They both looked at Sirius, awaiting his answer to their unspoken challenge.

Sirius drew a deep breath. "You're right," he said at last. "Remus is still Remus. He can't help what he is. He's sort of like me. I might be a Black, but that's something I can't help. He might be a werewolf, but there's nothing he can do about it. And just because I'm a Black doesn't make me evil, so being a werewolf doesn't make him evil, either."

"Obviously not," James said. "Remus is one of the best people I know."

"So we're going to stick with him?" Peter asked.

James smiled. "We stick together, right?"

"Right," Peter said.

"Right," Sirius said. Suddenly, he laughed.

"I don't see anything funny," Peter frowned.

"It's not funny, really, it's just . Imagine what my parents would say if they knew. One of my best mates is in love with a Muggle-born witch, and one of them is a werewolf." He laughed again. "Come on, Peter, you need to do something that would annoy my family!"

Peter smiled. "I'll pass for now."

"And if Mr. Black would be so kind as to calm down, I think we have more important matters to discuss," James frowned.

"Such as?" Sirius asked, trying to calm down.

"People are watching us," James muttered.

Peter glanced around. "Do you think anyone heard anything?"