The Dog and The Wolf
Remus
Remus’ favourite place in the entire castle was definitely the library, the smell wafting from the worn pages, the dim lighting that still allowed you to see your work, the air that was never too stuffy or never too cold. But last year, that changed. Last year, they found a special room. The Room of Requirement. Remus was immediately mesmerised by it. Every time he went alone, the room was full of muggle books and board games and record players that somehow worked despite the fact that there was no electricity in the school. When he stepped into The Room, there was already music dancing through the air, Lily sat in an armchair, legs outstretched and a book in her hand. The fireplace was crackling, the soft orange flames leaping up before disappearing. Lily looked up, eyes glinting with excitement. This was the first time they were able to hang out one on one since they arrived back at Hogwarts.
“So, ” said Lily, a slight smirk growing on her face, “when were you going to tell me?”
“Tell you what?” Remus stopped in his tracks.
“Come on Remus, you really think you can hide it from me?” her eyes rolled as she gave a small scoff.
Remus truly had no idea what she was talking about, he stared at her for a little while longer before finally realising. “Uh-it’s not, I don’t know what you're talking about–” he said, eyes growing wide.
“Remus. Don’t be daft. It’s so obvious.”
Remus dropped his head, was it really that obvious? When he looked up, Lily was smiling, she didn’t seem appalled or disappointed, just happy.
“Is it really that obvious?” he mumbled.
“Yes, but only to me, trust me, no one's going to know. Your secret’s safe with me.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” She held out her pinky to him, slowly, he took it. Then, in a swift sudden moment, she pulled him to the floor aggressively.
“Remus, you wanker! I can’t believe you didn't tell me earlier! I mean, you're dating Sirius Black and you didn’t even tell me!”
“It was supposed to be a secret, okay! No one knows, not even James or Peter. We just wanted it to stay between us for a bit.”
“As long as I found out before James Potter, I'm satisfied.”
“Of course Lils. I would have never told anyone else before you.”
They spent some time discussing their summers, Remus had to endure an hour of listening to Lily complain about how dull and awful her sister's new boyfriend was. Remus told her about his quiet summer, he told her about how he and Sirius got together, which felt oddly nice, after a while of having to stay quiet about it.
At around 6:00, Remus remembered what tonight was, a full moon. He had to tell Lily that he had something planned with the other boys, which wasn’t entirely a lie, just that that ‘something’ involved a moon and a transformation.
She rolled her eyes and scoffed slightly, “I don’t know why you hang out with them Re, they’re a bunch of idiots, especially James. I mean, he’s got it in his thick head that he’s likeable, which is so not true!”
“They’re my best mates, of course I hang out with them.”
“What about me!”
“Not to worry Lils, you're the love of my life, easily!”
“Don’t let Sirius hear you say that.”
“Nah, he wouldn’t care, probably congratulate us. The man is terrified of you.”
“Oh, really. I couldn't imagine why.” She retorted, bluntly
“I mean, six straight years of hexes and curses thrown his way must have nothing to do with it.”
They walked down the corridor in comfortable silence, before Lily turned off in search of Marlene, Mary and Dorcas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Remus! How are you, love? Come now, I’ll walk you down to the tree.” Madam Pomfrey’s voice could be heard miles away. But the sleeping student laying in a hospital bed seemed to pay no mind to the booming voice of the witch.
“Hey, Poppy, I’m good, how are you?” he replied, turning on his toes as Pomfrey caught up to him, they started the trip down to the Whomping Willow.
“Just splendid, my boy. Have you had any dinner yet? It might be a little late now, but I’ll have the elfs bring up a big breakfast for the morning.” She continued to fuss over him while he just gave her short, polite answers to make her happy.
Once they reached the passage, she gave him a hug, made a comment about the place smelling of wet dog, and assured him she’d be there to get him in the morning. No matter how much older Remus grew, Poppy always made sure to be there for the parts she could of the transformation. The only difference is that she trusted him enough to put the locking charms on the door himself, which made sneaking the boys in a thousand times easier.
Once Remus was sure he was alone in the passage, he whispered into the darkness, “You guys there?”
“Yep”, James’ voice carried in echoey tunnel. Now that they had all grown tall and lanky, the best way for everyone to fit under the invisibility cloak was for Peter and Sirius to be in their animagus forms, while James (and usually Remus when needed) stayed as normal.
“Right then, let's get this party started.”, opening the door to the shack, they all stepped in and James removed the cloak, a big black dog was wagging his tail at James’ feet, while a small, scabby rat was on his shoulder.
They exchanged some small talk and light conversation before the transformation started. Remus felt his bones growing more rapidly achy than they had been all day. The transformations had always felt horrible, and while they got better once his friends became animagus, they continued to make Remus feel the same way every time. Like shit.
As the wolf took over his body and mind, Remus gave in, letting the monster that sat in him unleash itself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Remus woke up, he felt strange. He had never been able to remember much of his…episodes…aside from the odd scent here or there. But this time was different. This time, Remus was able to recall distinct moments from the night. He remembers prancing through meadowes and playing roughly with the big one. Gently sniffing around with the small rodent. But most of all, he remembers the black canine. The one that was equally as gentle and rough as the stag and rat mixed together. He found the familiar scent straight away, and that’s all he wanted to be with. That's all he wants to be with.
“You alright, mate?” Sirius’ voice brought him out of the trance.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Remus smiled, sitting up, “where are the others?”
“Oh, they left a bit ago, to get some rest before classes, but I wanted to be here when you woke up.”
“You didn’t have to stay.”
“I know. I wanted to.”
Remus felt a small tang in his heart, then he smelt a floral aroma coming down the passageway.
“Shit. Pomfrey’s coming, quick, hide behind the door and sneak out after me.”
Pomfrey’s light hum came through the door two minutes later, “Remus, dear, how’d it go? I hope it wasn’t too horrible this time.”
“It was fine, thanks, I'm just tired. And hungry.” he replied, groaning slightly as he tried sitting up further, a short pain shot down to his wrist.
“Oh dear, it seems to be a fractured wrist. No issue, I’ll just fix it up now,” with a whip of her wand, the pain disappeared.
For the first time, Remus was able to remember how he got the fractured wrist, he and Padfoot had been racing through the woods, and the wolf just caught his wrist on a tree branch, sticking out.
Once he was in his bed in the hospital wing, and he was given a sleeping draught, Remus found himself passing the time before the inevitable sleepiness took over him thinking about a black dog, wagging his tail and he jumped back and forth. He thought about the wolf, taking an instant liking to the other canine. He’d had so many other full moons with Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail, so why did this one feel different, and why was he suddenly able to remember everything.
The answer came to him when he woke up to a black haired boy, sleeping in the chair beside the bed, holding his hand close to where Remus’ hand laid, and Remus just knew. He was here the whole time.