✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Y/N'S P.O.V. 

Her walk back to Gryffindor tower was solemn. It was silent, except for the party still raging in the Great Hall, the music echoing through the castle, sounding eerie. SilverSpell had struck up a tune again, one that Y/N couldn't bother to try to discern.

She couldn't see straight, vision blurred with silver tears and white glow. Stumbling in her heels, Y/N grabbed a nearby windowsill for balance. The stone was cold under her fingers - the window was open, letting wafts of cool air inside the castle. 

The slight breeze blew at her hair, messing it up, but Y/N couldn't find it in herself to care. 

The SilverSpell song got louder - Silver Nights, one sung mainly by the backup singer, Wisteria, and the usual lead singer, Kalia, did backup vocals. 

It started with the short chorus, then lead into the long verse that Y/N especially loved, even though she didn't smoke in the slightest. The song comforted her somehow, but also made it hurt worse.

On a night this silver, how could I feel gold? 

(Never gold, always less, always a mess...for you)

When you tell me 'i love you,' it feels more like you're just doin' it for the joke, 

(I do love you, though- you believed it? Funny, go find another bloke) 

Comin' out here for a smoke, can't, the moon's out and it would blow your cover.

Wouldn't want that, now would we? 

(Hah, we - why're you saying 'we'?) 

'Cause sometimes it just feels like its you and me 

Alone 

Under the silver night, with the silver stars, Mars in the distance and I can see the cause 

of our grief 

In the pistons 

Of the machine you've built 

Missin' the way you held me, right, funny, just a joke - 

Just come on, join me for a smoke, one smoke 

C'mon just one cigar under the stars

Just one time, and we could come close to what we had and what we could 

Just one, 'I love you,' wouldn't hurt, but maybe...maybe it would-

Wrenching her gaze away from the moon outside the window, Y/N took a deep, shaky breath. She couldn't let something so mundane as a boy get to her. So why did it feel like she was being repeatedly stabbed by a knife? 

Backstabbed, at that. 

How could Harry even insinuate those kinds of things? 

Yes, she was at the ball with Elijah. Yes, he was her date. Yes, they almost kissed. 

But Harry had made her out to be the bad guy? Accusing her of being a "two-timing - " and then getting mad at her when she gave him his options? 

Things he was going to call her anyway? 

Slut, 

Whore,

Hoe. 

It made no sense. None. After flirting with her, being so affectionate with her, Harry told her that he wanted to take another girl to the ball. Okay. But suddenly, it's a problem when she goes with another guy? 

Sniffing and wiping her eyes, Y/N turned, almost tripping on her long lavender gown, and continued her journey back to the common room. The music from the Great Hall faded the farther she went, losing the slight comforting feel, and now sounding more like a mourning tune. 

On a night this silver, how could I feel gold?

(Never gold, always less, always a mess...for you)

When you tell me 'i love you,' it feels more like you're just doin' it for the joke,

(I do love you, though- you believed it? Funny, go find another bloke...) 

. . . 

When she arrived at the common room, she found the Fat Lady in a lovely silk dress, with red stains all over her mouth and a bottle of wine in her hand. Y/N would've laughed, if she wasn't in such a shitty mood. 

"Fairy lights," Y/N muttered the password.

"Huh?" said the Fat Lady. 

"Fairy lights," Y/N repeated through gritted teeth, glaring at another person who came into the Fat Lady's frame. Violet, her friend. 

The Fat Lady remained silent. 

"The password," Y/N said lowly, trying very hard not to pull her wand out from a concealed pocket and turn the whole painting green. 

"Oh, yes!" the Fat Lady slurred, "Yes! Lairy fights..yes..." she raised an eyebrow, "why are you up here so early anyway? Was your skin always that glowy?" 

Y/N sighed very loudly. 

"Can I go inside?" 

"Fine," grumbled the Fat Lady, swinging the Portrait open for entry. Once Y/N made it inside, it snapped quickly and harshly shut. 

Immediately, the girl dragged herself up to her dormitory and slammed the door shut behind her. All was dark, save the beams of moonlight creeping in past the curtains of the windows. Y/N wiped more tears away and sat down on her bed, her dress creasing with the movement. 

Deciding she was fed up of being in her formal clothes that reminded her of the situation at hand, Y/N huffed and hurriedly changed. She slipped out of the gown and threw it on her bed, took her jewelry off (except Elijah's bracelet) and washed her face. 

When she sat down, fully fresh on her bed, Y/N felt slightly better. Obviously, she felt horrible, but getting unready helped a little. 

Her eyes hurt. She supposed that was the tears...the silver tears, and the glowing eyes. Her palms burned, her skin where the jewelry was burned. Y/N groaned and ran a hand down her face. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the bracelets that still lay on her nightstand. Harry's and Cedric's. 

Y/N frowned. She stared at them. 

It seemed as though they were staring back.

Spellie the dragon coughed a plume of flame. 

Y/N roughly got up and snatched both bracelets. She stared again, then slowly rolled Cedric's bracelet onto her left wrist. 

It was as though Harry's bracelet was glowing extremely bright. The Flos Lunaris wrapped around it didn't help, either. Y/N was basically blinded. 

She looked at it for a second too long. 

The tears were welling up again. 

Y/N chucked the bracelet back onto her nightstand, starting Spellie into flapping upwards and almost burning Y/N's curtains. The bracelet slid to the floor. 

Y/N burst into tears. 

After calming herself down, which didn't really work...Y/N got under the covers and pulled them up to her neck, cuddling into the warmth. 

It was hard to describe what she felt, really. Most of it was hatred - or was it? She was mad, but was it hate? 

She had just confessed all her feelings to Harry, told him she loved him, and he threw it aside. 

Y/N drifted off into an uneven sleep, her dreams full of stone Knights with glowing visors and almost-kisses under torchlight. Her heart full of Harry Potter, but it felt like the pieces were shattered. 

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

The next weeks of Christmas break were torture. 

Hermione came back late. Very late. It woke Y/N up abruptly, and she was outraged when she blinked open her eyes to see a distraught, crying Hermione. 

It only took one word for the girl to communicate what happened as she flopped down on her bed, still in her dress, sobbing. 

"Ron." 

Y/N understood immediately. She frowned and got up, pulling Hermione into the washroom to wash off her makeup, get into her pajamas, etc. Once that was done, they both crawled into Y/N's bed and Y/N tucked Hermione in. 

Hermione had giggled dryly, almost calmed, then she saw the maroon sweatshirt Ron had gifted her for Christmas and broke down into more sobs. 

Quickly, Y/N picked up the jumper and shoved it under Hermione's bed, stamping on it for good measure. 

The two best friends fell asleep in Y/N's bed, just feeling comfort in each other's presence. 

For the past week, they had been ignoring both Ron and Harry. Y/N, obviously, had explained what happened and Hermione was absolutely flabbergasted and angry.

An angry Hermione was terrifying, but Y/N didn't let her bring it up with Harry. Y/N also told Hermione about the odd interaction with the stone Knights that came to life and obeyed Y/N's command. The two girls decided that Y/N would ask Remus about it when he came to pick her up to meet her parents.

"Maybe Harry didn't mean it-" Hermione tried as they sat in the common room.

"He implied I was a two-timing whore, Herms," Y/N said tiredly. 

"Maybe he..." Hermione began timidly, then continued, "Maybe he saw you with Elijah and got jealous?" 

Y/n scoffed very loudly and gave a sarcastic laugh, "He likes Cho, Herms. Wanted to ask her to the ball - yet he's mad when he thinks I'm going with Ced, then even more angry when I'm not going with Ced? And when I'm going with Elijah?" 

"Sounds like jealousy to me," Hermione muttered.

"When I...er...confessed, he just told me that it didn't matter," Y/N sighed. "He doesn't care." 

"I think he cares very much," said Hermione, glancing in the direction of the boys.

Ron and Hermione seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement not to discuss their argument. They were being quite friendlyto each other, though oddly formal. Ron had told Hermione of something they overhead between Madame Maxime and Hagrid about Hagrid being a half-giant, and Hermione relayed that to Y/N. 

She loved Ron, but talking to him meant talking to Harry, and Y/N wasn't ready for that yet. 

But anyways, an article about Hagrid being a half-giant had been published in the Daily Prophet. Most of it was derogatory, so Y/N phased it out. Rita Skeeter, the writer, infuriated the girl to levels beyond belief. Her stupid studded glasses, her stupid blonde curls and how she jabbed at everyone. 

How Skeeter knew about Hagrid being a half-giant, nobody knew. But the article was out, and Hagrid shut himself in his hut, refusing to talk to anyone.

The quartet had gone down to comfort Hagrid, and Y/N hadn't said one word to Harry the whole time. The boy kept sending her glances, and she ignored every single one. Even being around him hurt like hell. 

Hagrid hadn't opened the door. They stood in the cold, banging on the wood for at least half an hour. 

They gave up.

"Missing your half-breed pal?" Draco Malfoy sneered in the hallway on the way back to Gryffindor Tower. "Missing the elephant man?"

"Missing your absent father?" Y/N shot back irritably.

Term hadn't even started up again, and this blond prat was already adding to her high anger levels. 

"Leave it, Silv," Harry said quietly, and then she rounded on him. 

"You don't get to call me that!" 

Silv. 

It was the first time she had spoken to him since the Yule Ball, since a week or two. Harry's eyebrows shot up and furrowed, but Y/N saw the hint of a smile grace his lips. He was smiling. He was probably getting some sick satisfaction from her distress. 

"You don't get to call me that," she repeated, turning on her heel, concealing tears. 

Y/N grabbed Hermione by the arm and dragged the girl away alongside her, hoping she didn't have to see Harry for at least a couple hours. Maybe a couple days, if that was possible.

Evidently, this wasn't the case. 

The next day, after a very filling lunch, Y/N and Hermione journeyed to the common room, pulling out all the homework they'd neglected the first half of holiday break, and set to work.

Y/N was still dreaming of the wonderful lunch she'd had, and almost didn't notice when half an hour later, the two boys emerged from their dorm and entered the common room. Y/N had half the mind to pack up and go upstairs and cry, but she needed to finish this. 

Ron and Harry sat across the room, glancing at the two girls every now and again. Harry had bags under his green eyes, his dark hair was messier than usual, his glasses were crooked on his nose. He looked exhausted. The weight of the second task had finally set in, huh. 

Y/N could see red rimming Harry's eyes, almost as though he'd been crying. 

What reason did he have to cry? she thought bitterly. Maybe Cho Chang kissed Cedric right in front of his face.

She realized that she'd been staring too long when Harry gave her a watery smile. Y/N hardened her look into a glare and jerked her head away from his direction. 

"Fucking git," Y/N muttered. "Dickheaded, jackarsed motherfucker." 

Hermione sighed, "Y/N-" 

"Do not even. It makes me feel better." 

"It really doesn't," said Hermione said softly, taking hold of Y/N's hand. 

Y/N huffed and crossed her arms, glaring back over at Harry. The boy made to get out of his seat, almost as if he was going to walk over to her, when Ron held him down by the shirt and whispered something in his ear. 

There was a rustling outside and Bandit swooped through an open window, bringing a gust of cold air along with him. He landed loudly in Y/N's lap, a letter in his beak. She took the letter and pet him lightly, then he hopped to Hermione and let her coddle him. 

"Hey, kid 

Go to Professor McGonagall's office at around 11:50 am on January 7th. I'll Floo and pick you up to go to St. Mungos to meet your parents. 

They asked for you again. 

See you soon. 

I love you, 

Dad."

It was finally happening. Finally, finally, finally. Y/N wrote back aa letter and sent it with Bandit, but did she have the mental capacity right now? Could she face that emotional turmoil while already going through...this? 

It brought her back to something that Remus has said last year...after catching Y/N and Harry in that situation...when they were up late in the hallways. 

"Well, sometimes the people you know and love aren't what they seem!" 

✦

Throughout the rest of Christmas break, until January seventh, Harry kept trying to approach Y/N. Maybe he thought that since she'd snapped at him, he could talk to her.

Any meal time? He'd shuffle beside her on the bench, mumbling apologies. Every time, she'd roughly get up and drag Hermione with her to a new spot, usually near Ginny, who also knew what he'd done. 

In the common room? He'd try and get her attention by throwing crumpled pieces of parchment at her, each with some handwriting inside. Y/N didn't bother to read them, chucked them into the open flames of the fire, then trudged upstairs to her dormitory where Harry couldn't follow. 

Just in the hallways? She'd be going to hangout with Cedric and Liana...who were outraged (more on that later), and he'd try and walk beside her. Y/N would speed up, or backtrack to the common room - anything to get away. 

Now...when she'd told Cedric, Liana and Mathew one night in the Hufflepuff common room... 

"He what," Cedric shouted, turning heads, absolutely infuriated. "Y/N please tell me you're joking." 

When she shook her head sadly, Cedric's eyes widened, then his whole face contorted into anger. He made to get up, but Mathew held him down. 

"How could he think that's even slightly okay?" asked Mathew, eyes full of concern. 

Liana sat close to him, not touching him completely, with a huge blush on her cheeks, but a blank look on her face. 

It was as though the enormity of the situation hadn't yet set in with Liana. But the moment Mathew had spoken, she was snapped from her reverie. 

"He's such a dick," said Liana. "He's been your friend for years and he still treated you like that." 

"This makes me feel terrible," Cedric groaned, running a hand down his face. In response to their odd looks, he continued, "I gave Harry a hint for the second task. He looked down at the end of the Yule Ball...and he gave me a hint for the first task...so..."

Y/N supposed Cedric assumed she'd get mad. She wasn't. Of course she wanted Harry to do well during the second task. She was in love with him - that was the whole problem. 

"Thank you, Ced," Y/N said softly.

"Why're you saying 'Thank you'?" Liana scoffed. "I hope Harry fails the task so miserably-" 

"He doesn't deserve that," said Y/N. Sure, she was extremely mad, humiliated, etc...but..."My feelings shouldn't hinder him from competing." 

"She's right, you know," said Mathew. "I'm sure it'll blow over soon, right? Just a little disagreement." 

"Sure..."

"Or I could hex him," offered Cedric, shrugging. His eyes held anger, but Y/N could tell he was trying not to show it for her sake. 

Y/N rolled her eyes at him, "No, Ced. It's fine. I'll get over it." 

Well, she was wrong about that, but who could just get past something like this so easily? Not Y/N - but little did she know, Harry couldn't either. 

"Elijah says he understands, by the way," Liana said quietly. "He came back to the garden after you left and couldn't find you, so he came to Mathew and I. He knows we're friends with you. We told him you'd left, and he understood. He's not mad." 

Y/N breathed a sigh of relief, closing her eyes.

It was bad enough what had happened, she didn't need Elijah to be mad too. She hadn't seen him in a couple days, but she was glad that he wasn't angry. They'd rekindle once she got over...whatever the bloody hell this mess was.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

January seventh rolled around, and Hermione woke Y/N up at eleven in the morning. It took about half an hour to get out of bed, but when she did, she quickly changed into comfortable black trousers and a beige-brown jumper, rolling the sleeves up. 

On Y/N's stomach was the faint remnants of the scar Remus had slashed upon her last year, in the fight at the Whomping Willow. It never hurt, so she never noticed it, since Madam Pomfrey patched it up really well.

Her arms felt bare, even though she had Elijah and Cedric's bracelets. The familiar tickling sensation of the Flos Lunaris petals was absent, which subconsciously made Y/N look around for Harry's bracelet.

Once she snapped out of her groggy state, she shook her head and fixed her hair using her handmirror. It took a little effort to get it, because Spellie was cuddling it as she slept. 

"Up you get," Y/N yawned. "Everyone's tired, you don't get an excuse, Spellie." 

The miniature horntail yawned very widely, as though to mimic her owner, then flapped solemnly onto Y/N's bed and gave the girl puppy eyes. 

If a dragon could pout, Spellie would be doing it right now. 

"Go back to sleep," laughed Y/N, picking up the mirror and bringing a hand to her hair. 

Again? 

It was cracked again? 

Maybe it was time she put Hermione's Christmas gift to use...but it was no good now. The mirror had splintering cracks along the surface, coming together like a network of twisting vines that ran across the whole mirror. If you looked close enough, you'd be able to discern the word, lies. 

Before Y/N could get a good luck, the glass completely shattered, pieces of the mirror falling to the floor and just missing her legs. Spellie reared from her sleep. 

Holy shit...

Y/N didn't have the time for this right now. 

She performed a quick repairing charm, put the mirror on her bedside, kissed Spellie's head and ran out of the dormitory. 

Making her way to Professor McGonagall's office, she saw Harry in the halls. He tried to come up to her, but she put her head down and sped up. 

Y/N entered Professor McGonagall's office right at eleven fifty, the agreed-upon time.

"Hello, Miss Sterling," McGonagall greeted. "Mind the rug, don't trip." 

"Hullo, Professor," said Y/N, grinning. "What're you grraaaaaadinnggg?" she asked, trying to take a peek at the stack of papers over Professor McGonagall's shoulder. 

The woman laughed lightly, "Your tests from before the term. Don't even try pestering me, you got an O. Best mark in the class, Miss Sterling." 

"Thanks, Minnie!" 

"Don't call me that." 

"Remus calls you that." 

"Mister Lupin is Mister Lupin-" 

There was a loud whooshing sound and the glow of green flames from behind Y/N. She turned, and out of the fire stepped Remus Lupin, donning a smile and immediately crushing Y/N in a fatherly hug and a kiss on the forehead. 

"Hey, kid!" 

"Dad!" 

Professor McGonagall chuckled, causing them to turn around, then playfully said, "Now, get out of my office, pranksters." 

Remus gave her a childish salute, which Y/N copied, and dragged the girl into the fireplace. He threw down some Floo Powder and with a lurch of her stomach, the spinning of the world, Y/N knew they were on the way to St. Mungos Hospital. 

They Flooed to London, went out into the streets and arrived at the storefront that was the hidden entrance to St. Mungos. 

The place was definitely clean. Marble everywhere - mediwitches and wizards in their blue scrubs, people running around all over the place, worried parents and lovers and friends. It didn't seem like the place death took lives - but yes, it was. 

Some things just weren't curable, even with the help of magic. 

"How've you been? Good term?" Remus grinned as they stood in line to get checked in as visitors. 

Y/N wanted to unpack all that had happened with Harry, but she was afraid that Remus would do something about it. She was also afraid that Remus would bring up how he was right, and how sometimes the people you know and love aren't what they seem.

"Er..." said Y/N, "I'm okayish...I just..." she looked into her uncles eyes. "Just...what's wrong with me?" 

Remus' wide grin flipped into a frown when she uttered those words. He looked at the floor, "I guess we'd have to address it at some point," said Remus. 

"Just to add something..." Y/N said slowly as the line moved forward. "At the Yule Ball, something happened and I was angry and...you know the stone Knights in the Entrance Hall?" 

Remus nodded his head. 

"Well, they came to life. Well, it was like they were under an animation spell, but nobody cast anything. Behind their visors was a white glow...like my eyes," said Y/N. "They obeyed my every command." 

Remus' mouth hung open, but before he could get anything out, the witch at the counter called them, registered them and gave them visitor name tags. 

"Fourth floor, Janus Thickly Ward. Happy visiting!" 

"Thank you," said both Y/N and Remus gratefully. 

"So..." Y/N prompted as they walked down the clean white hallway. "Information...?" 

Remus fell silent. This silence stretched from floor to floor, but Y/N didn't want to prod even more, in case he flipped a switch and blew up at her. Her uncle seemed like he was collecting his thoughts, and when they got to the fourth floor, she saw his lip tremble. 

She didn't push it.

Knocking on the Janus Thickly Ward's door, a nurse opened it and checked their visitor tags and registration cards, then let them inside with a too-cheery, "Welcome!" 

They sat down on some plush armchairs as the nurse was getting Y/N's parent's area ready. 

Y/N's parents. 

She was going to see her parents...

After they asked for her. 

"You can come along," the nurse said. Her brown hair was in a bun and tucked under some mesh, and her soft eyes were full of sympathy. "They're asleep right now, but they sure to wake soon." 

Y/N and Remus nodded and thanked her. 

At this point, Y/N had forgotten about the Harry situation...at least for now.

The two went to sit behind the Sterling's curtain, in more squishy armchairs. Y/N's eyes widened when she saw her parents, laying still against the white sheets of the hospital beds, their eyes closed. They looked close to death. 

They were always close to death. 

She got up and stood in between the two beds, one with her mother, one with her father. She looked down at their faces and saw herself. Bits of herself. A feature from her mother, a feature from her father. Y/N was a mosaic of these two people, and she'd never even really known them. 

Sure, this was where she'd stay as a young, young child, when Remus was caught up with the full moon. But she was always distracted by nurses, by toys, never actually going behind the curtain to see her parent's almost lifeless forms.

Now...everything was in plain sight. 

On first glance, you'd think they were simply  just asleep, maybe. 

Y/N didn't see that. She saw every movement. She saw every uneven breath, every twitch of a hand, of a leg, of a closed eye. Y/N noticed every single quiver of their lips, tremble of their bodies. 

These were her parents. 

Sure, Remus would always be 'dad,' before her father, because he raised her...and that made Y/N feel guilty. Shouldn't her father come first, since he was her father? It wasn't his fault that he was unable to raise her... 

Still, 'dad' was attached to Remus. 

On these beds lay her mother and father. Not mum and dad...yet.

She put a hand on each of their cheeks, and a felt a silver tear roll down her own. "You're okay, right?" she whispered, more to herself than anything. "You're okay." 

Y/N felt a hand on her back, gently guiding her back to her seat before she started completely sobbing. 

"Y/N...your tears..." said Remus. "They're..." 

"Glowing?" Y/N chuckled weakly once she had sat down. "Yeah." 

"Guess it's time I explain, huh?" 

"That'd be nice," Y/N said softly, gazing towards the hospital beds again. It would be nice to finally know after being plagued by strange happenings for months. 

"I can only tell you what I know," he said. "And it's not much...I'm still working on it..."

Remus stared deeply into Y/N's eyes and took a long, shuddering, grounding breath. His eyes welled with tears and Y/N couldn't help but feel bad. Sighing he muttered something under his breath how it was partly his fault. He collected himself, then uttered, lips trembling and voice quivering...

"You're cursed, Y/N."

It would make sense, but Y/N didn't want to believe it. 

She blinked multiple times, looking into his eyes, then let out a light laugh. "You're joking, right? It's a joke." 

"No, it's not," Remus said quietly, looking away...looking towards her parents. 

Y/N looked at him, and she could feel the world coming to a stop. She wasn't cursed. That was stupid, right? That was dumb. When would that have even happened? 

"The Curse of the Moon," Remus said. It sounded bland, as though this was a speech he had practiced many times, and lost feeling with each try. His eyes were even more watery, giving away all the emotion he didn't express with words.

"Lovely," said Y/N, still not believing the absurd words spilling from her uncles mouth. "What's next? Gonna tell me full moon affects everything," she chuckled. 

Remus was silent. 

Y/N was silent. 

Remus nodded slowly, and maybe the implications that she was cursed were finally sinking in...

"So I'm cursed," said Y/N unsurely. She still didn't want to believe it. She wasn't going to believe it.

Maybe she could get through this conversation by gaslighting herself into thinking that this was a joke, and then have a breakdown about it later...yes...

"Curse of the Moon...yes..." said Remus. Before Y/N could interrupt, he barreled on, "From my side of the family. Your mom's side - the Lupin family," he gave a dry chuckle, "Oh, c'mon, my name is Remus Lupin. Remus was found by the Great Wolf, Lupa, near the Tiber River with his brother Romulus...Roman Empire..." he trailed off. "My name's basically Wolf Wolf."

"Right..." Y/N said quietly, "Where're we going with this...?" 

"Background information so you have less questions at the end," said Remus. "Didn't it ever strike you odd that your grandmother's name is Hope Howell, or how your grandfather's name is Lyall Lupin?" 

"All of those names just mean wolf," Y/N said slowly, scrunching her nose. "If you tell me I'm a wolf, I'm throwing myself off of the Astronomy Tower, no offense." 

It was easy to make jokes if she thought the whole situation was a joke, right? 

"No, no, you're not," Remus reassured. "But the Lupin family tree is littered with werewolves. In fact, we hosted the first werewolf. Nothing is an accident, kid. Nothing. That's why we were cursed." 

"Hold on," said Y/N, confused. "'We' should mean the whole family. So why am I the only cursed one?"

Remus shifted in his seat, his eyes darting around the room. The kind nurse was in the far corner - way too far to overhear anything. 

"There was a man," said Remus. "A man who turned into a werewolf. The first werewolf - now, you may ask how that's possible. A werewolf needs a bite to turn into one...so how did the first werewolf come to be?" 

Y/N's parent's trembled again. 

"It was a curse, from a woman. A woman who had been through too much, seen too much. She was like the personification of the moon itself - Selene." 

Y/N's mouth fell open, "Like the Greek goddess...?" 

She didn't know why she asked that, but then again, the name Selene rung a bell in her head...oh. The statue of Selene in the Moonlight...maybe that was tied in to all of this. 

"No, Y/N," said Remus. "A human. A witch - a witch so advanced in her craft that she could morph and transfigure and reanimate objects to her will, all with a single thought. A witch so powerful she created the first werewolf because she was wronged." 

Of course, the students of Hogwarts had learned of the first werewolf, Lykos in History of Magic, but they never learned how Lykos became a werewolf... 

"Lykos, you know of him, yes?" asked Remus. When Y/N nodded, he continued, "Lykos Lupin - he never had a last name, when you learned of him. Only the Lupin family knows. Lykos Lupin, well, Selene fell in love with him, and vice versa." 

"So why did she...why did she curse him?" 

"Because it was never love, Y/N," said Remus sadly. "He was using her - he just wanted the power she held. Selene had spent years developing her skills, to become a protector, to become better. Lykos wanted that in a day." 

Y/N was silent, almost enraptured by the story Remus was telling. It was as though she'd forgotten all about being cursed. 

"And so Lykos married her, and she became Selene Lupin. Before that, she never had a maiden name. Her parents had been killed, she became powerful to avenge them. If Lykos killed her, he'd get her power. One night, when the moon was bright and full, Lykos creeped upon where she slept in their chambers. He brought his silver knife down, but before he could kill, it seared his palms and burned his arms. He dropped it." 

"Selene knew?" Y/N asked quietly, slightly in awe. 

Remus nodded, "Of course she knew - it was she who had cursed the knife, cursed it to never fall upon herself. Cursed it so her husband could never use it for wrong. Lykos, even before this, was a violent man. Selene loved him, but she was a cautious woman." 

"She was right to be cautious," said Y/N bitterly. "Sometimes the people you know and love aren't what they seem." 

The nurse was coming towards them, so the two fell silent. She checked on Y/N's parents, and nodded towards Y/N and Remus, "They'll be up soon, I hope." 

She scurried away to take care of other patients, leaving Remus and Y/N alone once more. 

Crossing his legs, Remus went on, "The clang of the knife awoke her, and Selene knew what he had done. Right then, a wolf howled outside their castle. The moon shone in beams through the open window, reflecting off of her silver handmirror, and she cursed him. She cursed Lykos to be a man-wolf, a werewolf, each time the moon was full." 

"What does this have to do with the rest of the Lupin family?" 

"Selene was an angry woman," Remus said softly. "And once she started, she couldn't stop. Curse after curse she let loose, ending with one that would forever haunt the bloodline. A girl, born a full moon, born to parents tortured, would feel the wrath. Now, your mother and father...they never knew." 

"Why didn't they know?" 

Remus hung his head low, but Y/N saw a tear fall down his cheek. He was silent for a very long time, then he whispered out, "I never...I never told them. It's my fault, really." 

Y/N, still confused, felt her heart pang for her uncle. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around Remus in a tight hug, waiting for him to continue of his own accord.

"I thought," he sniffled, "I thought if I kept it to myself, it would be okay. I was older than your mother, by a year...so I got everything laid on me. The family history, the knowledge, the artifacts...the burden." 

Feeling her own eyes watering, Y/N tried to blink the tears away and focus on what Remus was saying. 

"And so Selene decided, this girl would be just like her, more or less. The powers, the eyes, the control. And yet, by cursing the Lupin family, she made you a mix of herself, and of Lykos. Their fates had been intertwined all along. 

"She howled these curses at the moon, eyes spilling with tears of moonlight, the knife that Lykos wielded outstretched to the sky in defiance. Her handmirror at her side, showing her warnings, and the reflections of everyone who had wronged her, and who would wrong her." 

Y/N had a sudden vision of this, a vision carved into marble in the halls of Hogwarts castle, eerie in the night and crying her words to the heavens above.

"Selene in the Moonlight," she said suddenly, breaking Remus' story. "The statue. That's her, isn't it?" 

Slowly, Remus nodded again. He turned his head towards his sister, Y/N's mother, and his eyes welled with tears once more. 

"If I'm correct, kid," said Remus, "Your eyes glow, your tears glow...metals are attracted to you - but particularly, silver, am I right?" 

"Yeah..." 

"Lykos could never wear silver after his curse. Selene decided it would be the one metal, the most common, that would hurt him. Sear his skin. It's why werewolves were terribly affected by it, before the Wolfsbane potion." 

"I still wear it, though..." Y/N muttered. 

There had only been a couple times when Y/N wore silver that it burned, the end of the Yule Ball being one of those times. 

"Selene cursed a daughter, born to the moon and parents tortured. That, all the way down the Lupin line...is you. Your eyes and tears, your reanimation of those Knights...your affinity for metal...and how easy Transfiguration comes for you. The way you morphed Moody's hipflask to a knife."

"The Curse of the Moon," muttered Y/N. 

"Yes," said Remus. "Now, that was just the brunt of it. For now, be cautious of everything, for even I do not know the rest...yet, I am trying to figure it out. I'll probably go through my locked chest, filled with artefacts. Maybe I'll find something...I know the handmirror was passed down, but the silver knife was lost to time." 

Y/N froze. Locked chest...handmirror...she had stolen a handmirror from him when she was seven. Could it be the same one? Could the handmirror currently sitting on her nightstand be the handmirror of Selene Lupin? 

Before Y/N could say anything, there was a low groan from the pristine white hospital beds. Both she and Remus shot up from their chairs immediately, and rushed to her parent's sides. 

Her mother's eyes were fluttering open slowly. She was fading in and out of consciousness, then suddenly grabbed Y/N's hand with her own. 

The same moment, her father mumbled, "Y/N..."

Maybe she was finally getting them back. 

"I'm right here," she whispered, eyes tearing up. 

There was silence for a moment, hearts beating, minds hoping. Her parents shifted. Remus stilled, as though if he moved, they'd crumble away. 

Y/N sucked in a breath, a million emotions rushing through her when her mother's hand tightened around her own. Her father grabbed her other. 

"We love you," her mother muttered. It was almost silent, it was almost nothing, but it was there. And she said it. 

"And..." her father struggled - his mouth twitched - "We're proud of you..." 

Now, both of their bodies stilled. 

True stillness - not the sleep in which they laid when Y/N and Remus arrived. They seemed at peace, eyebrows relaxed, no twitching of their limbs in the slightest. Y/N panicked for a moment - had they passed? - yet, she sighed in relief when she observed the soft heaves of their chests, knowing they were still there. 

As their breathing slowed, Y/N simply watched. She watched how their hands slipped out of hers, and how their mouths formed slight smiles. 

They still knew her. 

They still loved her. 

After everything, they knew who Y/N was, and she was in their hearts and their minds. 

Remus came and slowly wrapped his arms around her. Y/N reciprocated, knowing he was crying as well. Silver tears fell from her own eyes, landing softly on Remus' shoulder, living proof of Selene, and of the Curse of the Moon. 

─── ☆: *.⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ .* :☆ ───

new a/n divider banner! gonna update all chapters to have it :) 

in my songwriter era guys !!✍️ 🎧

IDK IF THESE LYRICS R ANY GOOD BUT ANYWAYYYYYY...this song is more dominic fike vibes

[he cut his curls he has a buzz cut now im in a state of devastation from which i will never ever recover] 😀😭

[i still love him and his music he's a cutie patootie!] 🥰🥰

[i will always love his music] 

but anyway, the song gives me...wurli by dominic fike vibes!! 

this chapter is shorter than previous ones, only like 6.4k words, but i've been givin' yall feasts u can have snacks once in a while /j 😋😋

anyway what'd y'all think of the chapppptterrrr

aaannnd tell me abt sum in ur life that u enjoyed recently! sometimes we do stuff and never get the chance to tell anyone, so i'm here for that! 

i'll go first: i went to the mall and a guy asked for my snap lmao, he wasn't my type so i let him down slowly but its the first time that's happened 💀

ok ur turn! 🎤

guys...it's only 10 pm and im going to bed??? crazy!! 

anyways, love you troublemakers <3 

-dizzy