Not So Different (Remus Lupin!)

She was beautiful, and all I could think about. Wisteria Anderson never left my mind, I swear. Her shoulder-length, dirty blond hair; her perfect structure, petite as she was. Her deep blue eyes, the most lovely eyes I've ever seen. The scars on her arms and legs, the ones that never fail to make me wonder if she's hiding something.
As she looked up, I quickly glanced away. She could never love me, I thought. And even if she did, I couldn't bear to think what I might do to her. No, even if we were a match made by angels, I could not let it be. Not while we were so very different. But Remus, said a different voice, if she had lycanthropy, too... Sirius Black, get your sick thoughts out of my head.
"Tell her Moony, tell her what you are and tell her how you feel."
"Thanks Padfoot, if it were that easy, I would."
"But Remmy, it is that easy."
He smirked as he ran off to his bedroom.
"I hate you!"
Wisty walked in right then. "Who do you hate?"
"Oh, Sirius is being a real arse again..."
"Oh. Well, if that's it I'll just be leaving..."
She sounded hesitant. I had to keep her from going.
"No! I mean, there's something I want to - need to - tell you."
"Okay Remus, you can tell me anything, I'm all ears."
I paused, still unsure how I wanted to phrase this.
"Wisty," I said, taking her hand, "I really--"
"Oh, Remus, dear, could you help me find the big cooking pot? I need it for dinner..." Molly Weasley had just Apparated into the kitchen - where I was talking to Wisty - beginning her daily dinner shtick.
"I think I hear Sirius messing with some stuff upstairs... I'll go check." Wisty left.
"I really do despise the kitchen... So disorganized, and there are anti-Summoning charms on everything..." Molly trailed off.
I knew that Molly hated most everything about Grimmauld Place. She made it blatantly obvious.
We found the pot rather quickly, and I was only half-listening as Molly thanked me for my help.
As soon as she had finished talking, I excused myself and set off to find Wisty and Sirius.
I was standing outside of the room that I knew to be Wisty's, about to enter, when I heard voices.
"... But Sirius, I care about the lycanthropy!" Wisty sounded hysterical.
I cannot believe that he told her about my "furry little problem." Of course, I hadn't thought she would care...
I went back to my bedroom and fell asleep, dying inside. My best friend was a traitor. The girl I loved was just as shallow as the rest of the world. What else could go wrong?
At breakfast the next morning, I ate silently, not looking at Sirius. Not looking at Wisty. When I finished, I nodded my thanks, walked to my room, and locked the door.
This went on for two months, locking myself in the cellar at full moon. Sleeping, eating, brooding, making Sirius mad and Wisty confused in the process.
One morning on my way to my room, Wisty stopped me on the stairs. One hand lightly on my shoulder, she spoke to me, the first voice I had heard in months.
"You can't ignore the world forever, Remus."
She proceeded down the stairs, leaving me in the middle of the staircase until I mentally shook myself and ran to find Sirius.
"Sirius! Sirius Black!"
"I'm in here, Remus," came a voice from Sirius's room.
"Padfoot! I'm so sorry, I was stupid and I jumped to conclusions." I waited. "Padfoot?"
He made no effort to respond, so I continued.
"I overheard you talking to Wisty, her saying that she cared about my having lycanthropy--"
"Wait, so that's what this is about?" Sirius laughed. I had never been so confused.
"Go," he said, "Go talk to Wisty. Apologize for ignoring her, tell her the truth."
"What truth?" I asked, still confused.
"Tell her why you were ignoring us, and tell her what you planned to tell her about three months ago."
Sirius then pushed me out the door, down the hall, to Wisty's door. He knocked, and then ran down the hall, leaving me glued to the spot, dumbstruck.
When Wisty came to the door, her eyes were red and puffy, her floor littered with tissues.
"What do you want?"
I winced a bit, it was painful.
"There's something I need to tell you."
"Okay. Talk. You have some serious explaining to do, you know."
I took a deep breath.
"Wisty, I'm so sorry for ignoring you. I swear. I overheard you and Sirius talking about lycanthropy, and when you said you cared, I just freaked out."
"But Wisty, I love you. Even though we can never be together, I know I love you."
"We can never be together because I'm a werewolf. And I could never put you in danger. So having any sort of relationship is out of the question. Does that explain everything?"
"On your part, yes. But now I need to tell you something."
"Feel free."
"I love you, Remus."
I shook my head slowly. "I thought we established that this could never be?"
"But see, Remus, it was my lycanthropy that Sirius and I were talking about. I am a werewolf, and under the presumption that you were a human, I could never be with you because I couldn't harm you. But given that we're both werewolves, we can't really harm each other."
We fell silent, thinking.
"I suppose we'd better thank him," suggested Wisty.
"In a moment. I've been waiting quite some time for this, and after all, there's no time like the present." I whispered, slowly walking towards Wisty.
We were less than a foot apart when I reached out and tilted her chin so that she was looking up at me.
I leaned down and kissed her, slowly, unsure. She pressed her hands into my hair, pulling me closer. One hand on the small of Wisty's back, the other behind her head, we kissed passionately, lovingly.
The door burst open, and we pulled apart, just a little. Sirius was in the doorway. He took one look at the room, taking us in, and then shut the door and left, musing out loud. "A job well done, Padfoot."
"Well," whispered Wisty, "He's not wrong."
I laughed. Only Padfoot could make life with lycanthropy better.
"I love you, Wisty."
"I love you, too, Remus."
Maybe she wasn't so different, after all.