After Regulus left Diana's side to return to the Slytherin common room, she had to overcome the dilemma of following Regulus away, or to go back to the Quidditch pitch where Remus was.

Regulus's words had somehow made her heart beat faster as she thought of the possibilities. Until that point, she had been too stubborn to admit it even to herself that she liked Remus Lupin. But when she heard herself talk about him out loud, it was as though a flame was started inside her heart which she couldn't possibly put out. Diana liked him more than she'd thought she would ever like anyone, and the feeling was somewhat foreign to her.

So, with a deep breath to keep her encouraged, Diana got back to the Quidditch field, walking up the stands toward where Remus was sitting with a book in one hand and a half-eaten chocolate bar in the other.

"Want a guest?" Diana called out to Remus as she approached him, catching his attention.

At the usual sight of her, Remus's face suddenly brightened, his smile widening as he closed his book. "Hi — I mean — yeah, take a seat, if you like."

Still in her green Quidditch robes, Diana sat beside him, setting her broom down bellow her feet. Her curly blonde hair was messier than ever after today's flying practice and the tip of her nose had turned slightly red due to the cold weather.

"So... how long have you been sitting here?" Diana asked, trying to hide any sign of nervousness from her face, though she wasn't doing a good job at all.

If Remus hadn't been so nervous himself, he would have certainly seen it in her awkward smile or the way she was playing with her fingers anxiously.

"Not long." Remus shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

He had been sitting there ever since the beginning of their Quidditch practice, among with other Slytherin students who had shown up as well to watch.

"I actually come here a lot. It's a good place to read," said Remus. It wasn't exactly a lie, but that wasn't the case today. He had come to see her practice, stealing glances at her every once in a while from over his book. She had looked beautiful with her flushed cheeks and the wind tousling her hair as she flew.

"Oh... right." Diana forced a little smile, looking away.

Regulus was wrong after all, she thought, mad at herself that she believed for a second that he actually liked her. But she was also mad that she was feeling disappointed.

"Anyway, I should better get going. The Gryffindors' practice will start any moment now and they'll think I'm here to spy on them," said Diana, getting up to her feet with a nervous chuckle.

But before she could take even take one step, Remus briskly reached out and grabbed ahold of her wrist, holding her back.

"Stay," he said briskly, but then cleared his throat and let go of her hand, going on a bit more calmly, "If you want, of course. The Gryffindors' practice won't start for another thirty minutes."

"All right," Diana muttered after a short pause, sitting back down.

      "I'm actually glad you're here. There's something I needed to talk to you about," said Remus, speaking more quietly after he threw a glance behind his shoulder to make sure they were alone. "You — you haven't told anyone about my — er — about my condition, have you?"

     "No. Of course not."

     "Thanks..." said Remus, looking relieved. "Cause, you know... not everyone's going to be okay with someone like me studying at the same school as them."

     Diana nodded in understanding. She then said after another pause, "Can I ask you something?"

     "Yeah, sure."

      "W-well... I was just wondering... when were you — when did you first —"

     "When was I bitten?" Remus completed her sentence gloomily, and so she nodded. He then sighed, his brows knitting together sorrowfully as he looked away. "I was five."

     "Five!?" Diana whisper-yelled, her eyes widening. "But that's — you were so young! How?"

"At the time, my dad worked at the Ministry in the department of Non-Human Spiritous Apparitions," Remus began to explain. "Back then, You-Know-Who was rumored to be recruiting Dark Creatures as his followers. So the Ministry had gathered those creatures who were suspected to be guilty. Including a werewolf named Fenrir Greyback."

     Diana had heard that name before many times. He was the one who had killed all those people, which her parents had been talking about.

     "He had been brought to the Ministry because he was accused of killing two Muggle children. And... and my dad was one of the people in charge of investigating Greyback," Remus went on. "Greyback told the Ministry that he was a Muggle. Everyone believed him. But not my dad. He recognized signs in Greyback's appearance and kept telling the committee that he was a werewolf. My dad told them that they should keep Greyback at the Ministry until the next full moon, which was going to be that same night. But they only laughed at him. They then asked my dad to leave the court, and he got angry and started insulting the werewolves, with Greback still in the room, saying how heartless and vicious werewolves are, and that they don't..."

     Remus paused for a moment, taking a breath so he could keep on going,

     "He said that werewolves didn't deserve to live," Remus muttered. "The committee let Greyback go. But when they tried to put a Memory Charm on him, he and the other werewolves they had brought in attacked them. The Ministry wizards tried to fight back, but they managed to escape them. They were stronger on the day before a full moon."

Diana could hear the sorrow in his voice as he told the story, and it pained her heart to hear it.

"I was sleeping in bed that night. I had no idea what had happened at the Ministry that day, or that Greyback was planning on coming back for revenge because my father had believed that werewolves deserved nothing but death..."

Remus took in a deep breath, his eyes fixed on his lap. The memory came back to him in a flash as it always did. He could never forget it.

"I woke up with a start when I heard a crash... he had broken through my window, and... and I couldn't do anything to stop him... no matter how much I screamed... it didn't stop him... I was too little to do anything..."

Remus's voice broke, but he forced himself to go on,

"He was there to kill me. That was his revenge," Remus said in a quiet voice. "But my dad came in time to save me and drove Greyback out of the house with a lot of powerful curses. My dad managed to save my life, but from that night on... I became a werewolf."

      A long silence fell between them. Diana felt at loss for words, the true horror of Remus's past finally sinking in as the pity grew within her.

"But... isn't there any hope for a cure?" she asked. "I know they haven't discovered anything yet, but still..."

"My dad searched for a cure for years. But it was pointless," Remus whispered, gazing away at the morning sky before them.

"I'm really sorry to hear all this, Remus," Diana said softly, her eyes fixed on his crumbled face. "All my life, I've only been told of the terrible things that werewolves have done. But no one has ever talked about the terrible things that someone like you goes through. I just wish there was something I could do."

"It's okay. I'm used to it by now." He looked back up at her, giving her a little sad smile to reassure her that he was fine. But she knew that this was far from true, and the smile was far from real.

He'd been through so much pain since he was a child, not only physically, but emotionally as well; to have to carry on the burden of being something everyone feared or despised could turn anyone mad and vicious. You keep treating someone like a monster, and a monster they will become.

But here Remus was, with a heart greater than the ocean and a soul kinder than the sea's embrace. There is a monster in every human, but not in him.

Diana knew that she had to leave soon and their time was up for today because his friends would arrive to the Quidditch field any moment now, but there was something holding her back. There was a calmness in his presence that made her want to stay next to him forever.

She wanted to say something to him; anything that could make him feel better. But Diana had always been bad at giving comfort. So instead, she moved closer to him and then softly leaned her head down on his shoulder, holding onto his hand.

Remus felt his breath hitch in his chest. And so, he hesitantly wrapped an arm around her, bringing her closer to him as he gently leaned his head on top of hers.