The Half-Blood Princess

Chapter 14- Pain For A Wolf

Sabrina struggled to get to sleep that night.
The pain on Remus Lupin's face as he transformed, and the terrifying werewolf that he became, kept invading her thoughts.
Originally she had planned to tell Regulus what had happened, but after thinking it through, she changed her mind.
The more people that knew Remus's secret, the more likely it was to come out. And Sabrina didn't want Remus to be punished for something that was not his fault, since he hadn't chosen to be a werewolf.

When Sabrina made her way up to breakfast the following morning, she found her path blocked by Remus.
Normally no one saw Remus after a full moon, and the teachers all claimed that he was ill. And looking at him, Sabrina could tell that he did not look good, and she knew why.
His skin was pale and clammy, and there were red rings around his eyes.
He wasn't in school uniform, so Sabrina had a hunch that he wasn't going to be attending lessons that day.

"Hello Remus" said Sabrina, trying to sound as friendly and casual as possible.
Remus couldn't seem to meet her eyes, and he had his head hung low, clearly ashamed of what happened the night before.
"C-Can we talk" stuttered Remus.
"Sure" replied Sabrina.
Remus nodded and lead the way into an empty classroom.
"I'm so sorry about what happened last night" apologised Remus, once they were alone.
"It wasn't your fault. You couldn't control yourself" reminded Sabrina.

"You're not angry at me?" Questioned Remus.
"No. What good would me being angry at you achieve? It was Sirius who tried to get Severus and me killed. I can't imagine you were too happy when Sirius told you what he had done" admitted Sabrina.
"No. I keep all my memories in my other form, so I remember seeing the terrified look on your face when you saw me, even though I had no control over myself at the time. I had no idea how you and Severus had found me, until Sirius and James told me what happened this morning"
"It was foolish of Sirius to risk your secret like that, just for the chance to hurt my brother".

"I tried to talk to Severus earlier, but he refused to let me apologise" revealed Remus.
"That's not surprising when you remember that you're a part of the group that torments him on a daily basis" replied Sabrina coldly.
"I wish that they would just leave Severus alone. But nothing I say to them has any effect. James and Severus really loathe each other, and I don't think anything is ever going to change that"
"I agree. I don't think they will ever get along, or be civil to each other".

"Will you tell him that I'm sorry, since he won't let me do it in person?" Asked Remus.
"I will pass your message along, but I don't know what good it will do" admitted Sabrina.
"Well, if you could just let him know that I did not know what Sirius had done until it was too late. And that I'm sorry for scaring you both. I will never forgive myself for what happened"
"I don't want you to worry too much about it. Severus will get over it, and so will I... Now, you should probably get back to the hospital wing, where I expect you escaped from this morning to find me".

"I did sneak out when Madam Pomfrey's back was turned, it's true" admitted Remus.
"I thought you might have done. So get going before she starts to worry, and let's talk no more about this" insisted Sabrina.
"Are you really O.K with keeping my secret for me?"
"I don't want you to get cast out of society because of me, for being a werewolf, and neither does Severus, even if he hates you. So your secret is safe with us"
"Thank you Sabrina"
"You're welcome".

Sabrina and Severus were awkward around the Marauders for the rest of the week, as everytime they looked at each other, they remembered that terrible night.
Luckily Regulus didn't notice anything different about Sabrina's behaviour, so didn't ask any difficult questions.
But unfortunately Lily did, and one afternoon she cornered Sabrina.
"O.K, spill" ordered Lily.
"I don't know what you mean. Spill what?" Questioned Sabrina.
"You and Sev have been acting weirdly around Remus, James and Sirius all week. So I want to know what happened between you all" replied Lily.

Sabrina bit her lip awkwardly, as she didn't want to lie to Lily, but she didn't want to betray Remus's secret either.
"If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone else" Sabrina said quietly.
She planned on telling Lily a version of the truth, without revealing that Remus was a werewolf.
"I promise" said Lily.
"Alright. Look, the other night Sirius told Severus a way to get passed the whomping willow. Which Severus then of course wanted to try out, because he wanted to prove that he was a brave as the Marauders, or something stupid like that. I went with him, to try and stop him, but I failed. We froze the tree and entered the secret passageway underneath. As we got closer to the end of the tunnel, we heard these terrible screams. Luckily Potter came along and saved us, before we bumped into whatever terrible creature lives down there" replied Sabrina.

"It was lucky James got to you in time" gasped Lily.
"Yes. When Sirius told him what he'd done, James was furious so he came after us" admitted Sabrina.
"So that's why Sev is so angry at the moment, because he's annoyed at being in James's debt"
"Yes. He's not happy about owing Potter a life debt. He's also mad about what Sirius did too"
"So that's the real reason Sirius has been given detention for the rest of term"
"Yes, McGonagall and Dumbledore were very angry with him when they found out what happened. But Lily, you can't tell anyone the truth"
"Don't worry, I won't tell a soul".