For the rest of the afternoon, the five teenagers ran around Hogsmeade. They ate lunch, which consisted mostly of sweets and chocolate. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter could definitely not miss the chance of leaving the village of Hogsmeade without having gone to Zonko's Joke Shop, so they brought Ivory there with them afterwards.

The boys did their absolute best to keep Ivory's mind as far away from reality as possible. They joked with her, they teased her, they made her feel as though everything was all right... and as though everything would be all right. It worked for the most part, and for that, Ivory was grateful to each of them.

Once they were all ready to leave Hogsmeade, they walked through Honeydukes again, heading straight for the cellar, and snuck back through the same secret passageway that they had come in.

However, the boys were far from done with showing Ivory the castle's deepest, darkest secrets, just as they had promised her: they'd barely even scratched the surface.

For the remainder of the day, while they dodged Peeves (the school's poltergeist, who thoroughly enjoyed wreaking havoc on students and teachers alike) and the caretaker as well as his cat, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter showed Ivory every inch of Hogwarts that held secrets they had discovered over the past six years. They showed her the rest of the secret passageways and how to get to them, they showed her how to get into the kitchens, they showed her shortcuts to each of their classrooms.

Ivory was fascinated by all of it. Though the four boys had never once told anyone else in the entire school of all the ways they had of getting around in the castle, they found themselves to be quite fine with telling Ivory. They had always gotten along well with her and felt that she was the only one of the girls in their year who had a mind wired for mischief.

There was only one place inside the castle—one secret passage—that Remus was certain he never, ever wanted to show Ivory.

At first, when James and Sirius had decided to show the girl the other passageways, Remus had been extremely nervous. He had attempted to give them silent warnings, shooting them apprehensive glances, in the hope that they would understand where he didn't want to take her. It seemed, though, that James, Sirius and Peter shared silent understandings with Remus when it came to that certain passageway; and Remus was left relieved beyond belief.

He didn't know what he would do if she ever found out about the passage under the Whomping Willow... The one that led to the Shrieking Shack.

The only ones who knew about it were the same ones who knew about his lycanthropy: James, Sirius, Peter and the professors. It was where Remus went once a month on those horrible nights of the full moon. It was where he transformed into the horrid beast that he so loathed, the inner monster inside of himself that he had no control over.

Since first year, he had been hiding away in the Shrieking Shack on those painful nights. It would be enough to keep him contained, trapped, with no way of escaping and possibly hurting anyone. Once transformed, it would all be a struggle to be freed in order to find a victim. With no one else around to attack, he had been left to claw away at his own face and body. The werewolf part of him was full of rage, full of uncontrollable anger, full of thirst for blood. As much as he wished to be able to control himself, he couldn't.

His friends had found out about his condition during their second year at school, and since then had been nothing but supportive about the matter. Then, during fifth year, a light had appeared, however dim: a shining chance for Remus's pain to be slightly alleviated... James, Sirius and Peter had succeeded in becoming Animagi. A stag, a black dog and a rat were then set to accompany him while he transformed, and after that, he found himself to be calmed by the presence of other animals while in that form. Once a month, four boys would go through the passageway under the Whomping Willow.

His friends had done so much for Remus; more than he could express in words, more than he'd ever be able to tell them. In his werewolf form, he would stop tearing away at his own body; stop shredding his own flesh. The natural rage in him was, while around other animals, slightly lessened. Not only would he no longer have to experience too much of the physical pain of his transformations, but, more importantly, he had come to accept himself much more. But that still didn't stop him from sometimes hating himself or from being disgusted by what he was. It didn't stop him from feeling as though he needed to stay away from people so he wouldn't ever hurt them. Even James, Sirius and Peter couldn't make him feel better when he was feeling this way.

As they walked, Remus's eyes flicked to Ivory. He could see how little life was left in her. She seemed to be drained. There was no hope shown in her features, no happiness emanating from her, no joviality that was almost tangible. The spring in her step was gone, the fire in her eyes had gone out, her face was pale and her smile, if she had one, was forced; yet there she was, standing upright and trying to be strong. She had lived enough sorrow to last a lifetime; she had faced the very worst things a person could ever have to face: their loved ones dying.

Remus didn't want Ivory to ever know about what he became every month. He didn't want her to know the horrors of his life. She knew enough horrors of her own. He didn't want her to even be aware of the very existence of the passageway that led to the Shrieking Shack. In case she ever happened to come across it and used it unknowingly on the day of a full moon, he preferred she remained ignorant to its existence.

He couldn't bear it if he ever hurt anyone...

And, Remus thought as his eyes fell once more on Ivory: on her small frame, on her auburn hair and on her brown eyes flecked with green and gold and so many other colours, he really didn't want to hurt her.