Remus felt his stomach drop, and suddenly all he could hear was the pounding of his heart in his whole ears. Somehow, Neville's words filtered through: a whole village, killed. A whole village —
"I..."
No. No, no, no.
It hit him, just a second too late, that this was his fault. The chaos of the last full moon, the mountain lion attack that provoked Remus to defend his friends, the chase through the woods and the Grounder that Sirius had pulled him off of. They'd lost track of him. In the confusion afterward Remus hadn't even been able to properly recall if the Grounder had actually been there at all. They'd lost track of him, had no idea whether he'd survived, and Remus had been too afraid to tell a soul.
He became even more pale, blinking away tears and lifting his fingertips to his mouth. It was a horrible failed attempt to keep his expression blank.
"No," he said after a moment. "No. Nothing."
The lie came out instinctively, like a last-ditch attempt to save his own life. He knew it wasn't convincing. He knew it wasn't remotely believable, but Remus couldn't bring himself to confess.