I woke up reluctantly the next day. At least it was a Saturday, so I didn't need to go to classes.

At around half past eleven, I made my way down to the common room. James was sitting on the couch, staring into space. Sirius was asleep face first on the floor, and I would have thought he were dead if I couldn't see him breathing. Peter was struggling to keep his eyes open on the couch. Remus was nowhere to be seen.

"Morning everyone," I mumbled, plopping myself down on the couch next to James.

"Morning, Y/n," James yawned.

There was a muffled sound from Sirius, and I assumed he said good morning into the carpet.

"How was your first night?" James asked quietly.

Sirius rolled over to face me so that he could hear.

"I – I don't know," I admitted. "It – it wasn't scary, but it wasn't good, either. Especially – especially when I – when I heard..."

I closed my eyes tightly and shut my mouth. When I heard Moony's howls of pain. Even after I had gotten into bed, I could still distantly hear the howls. I could still hear them in my head. It was horrible.

"We know," Sirius said quietly. "We – we hate that we have to leave him, but if we don't..."

"We'll be caught," Peter squeaked.

The other two nodded, and I sighed.

"I'm hungry," I muttered.

The others voiced their agreement, so we went down to the Great Hall for lunch. Remus was still nowhere to be seen, so I assumed he was still in the Hospital Wing.

I grabbed a few sandwiches and walked through the castle to the Hospital Wing. Remus was reading in his bed and looked up as I opened the door. His face split into a smile, one that I couldn't help mirroring.

"N/n," he said happily.

"Hi, Darling," I said, kissing his cheek. "I brought you something."

I gave him the sandwiches and a chocolate bar that I may or may not have stolen from James. Remus took the food with a smile on his face before he began eating.

"You went last night, didn't you," Remus said.

I cocked my head at him.

"Of course I did," I said.

Remus shook his head.

"I wish you hadn't," he said. "Now you... just – you knowing... knowing what I am is bad enough, but – but now you've seen it."

My lips thinned.

"Remus," I said. "I don't care. I really don't care that you have – as James puts it – a furry little problem. You're not the wolf. The wolf doesn't define you. You, as a person, defines you."

Remus looked away, but I could see tears in his eyes and a blush on his cheeks.

"Thank you, Y/n," he whispered hoarsely.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he held me close for a moment.

"When are you going to be able to leave?" I asked.

"Just before dinner," Remus replied.

I smiled at him.

"Well, we have the entire day off, so I can stay with you all day," I said.

Remus blushed and looked down.

"You don't have to, if you don't want to," he said quickly. "If you'd rather spend time with Lily, or the others, that's fine, I understa-"

"Remus," I interrupted. "I want to spend the day with you."

Remus smiled at me again and shuffled over in his bed. I got in and cuddled up against his side. We read his book together and talked about little things.

↢⋄↣

The next day was the third Quidditch match of the season. It was Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw had a really good Chaser who was able to intercept most of our passes. She was the captain of the team, and her name was Annabeth Chase.

We were still able to keep ahead of them, but only by a few goals. I hoped Marlene caught the snitch before the Ravenclaw seeker did.

I ducked and twirled through the field, the Quaffle tucked tightly under my arm. I dodged players and shot the ball through the hoop. The red and gold side of the stands cheered loudly, and I zoomed back across the field.

"And McKinnon's spotted the snitch!"

I watched as Marlene dove down the pitch and towards an almost invisible speck of gold. The Ravenclaw seeker was on the opposite side of the field, but they flew over quickly, only to get a closer view of Marlene catching the snitch.

The crowd cheered as Marlene held her fist up, and we all flew to the ground. We all got into a group hug, and then we shook the hands of the Ravenclaw players.

Our friends came down to congratulate us. Lily gave me a big hug and so did Peter. Remus smiled at me and gave me a hug and a kiss.

We walked back to the castle, talking about the match. Remus smiled and held my hand the whole time, and even though we had been together for about two months now, it still brought butterflies to my stomach.

"So, there's another Hogsmeade visit," James said once we reached the Gryffindor Tower. "Are we all going?"

"Definitely," Sirius said. "Gotta stock up on supplies."

"I'm not even going to ask what for," Lily muttered.

We all laughed and continued talking, our minds far, far away from the darkness outside of Hogwarts's walls.