.
“James don’t you think Remus is a bit...” Peter looked around nervously like he had seen a ghost or a really ugly rat.
“Bit what?”
“I don’t know, weird?”
“Peter he’s not weird it’s just close to the full moon, that’s all”
“I don’t know James…” Hands suddenly crashed down on their shoulders, spooking them both.
“Oh shut it! Moony’s just got the full moon jitters, ain’t that right moony!”
“Sirius!”
“What don’t want him to hear?” Sirius chuckled and smiled so big he might have snapped his braces if he had any.
“it’s not like we’re talking bad about him…right?”
“No course’ not!”
“Yeah course’ not”
Sirius was uncertain, his friends basically had signs on their heads saying “I’M LYING”. Nonetheless, he shrugged it off, like a great first rate wizard taking criticism from the unyielding press.
After all he had more pressing matters, moony was going to transform tonight.
“Well I’ve got to brush my coat before the big night!”
“See ya’ padfoot”
“Bye Sirius”
With a skip in his step he set off on his “pre-full-moon spa day”. Sirius adores full moons, after all it’s the most bore curing night of the month.
The trees around the Hogwarts grounds were breathtaking, unlike the greasy mop of hair stuck in a book blocking the view.
Ah, snape, the boy who took a shower once a month, snape. He has got to be Sirius’s least favorite person in the world and that’s saying a lot considering he’s got blood purists for parents.
“Hey snivellus!”
The greasy haired boy looked up with horror written on his face, his day was completely ruined.
“Black.” Snape’s tone was dull with a hint of disgust.
“What’cha reading, a guide to snogging girls?”
“I’m reading ‘a history of dementors’ not that you’ve ever heard of it, considering you can’t read.”
“I can read plenty and I can write even better, haven’t you seen the stuff I’ve written on the stall walls?”
“Oh we’ve all seen it Sirius.”
The one and only gorgeous lily evans came out from behind the tree, pissed as Merlin on execution day.
“Lily! My favorite girlfriend of James!”
“I’m not his girlfriend! We’re barely acquaintances.” Lily’s voice was full of unapologetic disgust.
“I told you to knock it off or the next time you go to write something on the stall walls it will be with a broken hand.”
Ouch but what can you expect from lily evans, moments like this make Sirius realize why James pursues her so hard.
A strong woman and great ally, too bad the bloke she’s protecting is a future death eater in the making.
“I forgot you’re not much like your name, more like a rose than lily I might say.”
“And why’s that?”
“Beautiful at first but thorny when you get to know it.”
Lily grabbed Snape’s book out of his lap and raised it to throw it. Sirius snickered, dodged, and ran away before Lily had the chance to hit him again.
Sirius walked off, he still had brushing to do. Not even Merlin himself could stop him, much less a mop with a redhead to guard it.
Sirius brushes his coat every full moon afternoon, he believes it gives him good luck. He started this ritual right after the Snape incident.
The near attempted murder spooked him to change for the better, I mean he didn’t stop bullying snape but at least he stopped making fun of his robes out loud.
☽
“Sirius?”
Sirius sniffed the air searching for the intruder's scent. It smelled like grass from the great lawn and half eaten chocolate.
“Sirius there you are!” Remus popped out from their dorm’s door frame. He leaned down to gently pet the black dog's head.
Sirius gave into the touch with a happy bark.
“Are you brushing your fur again?” Remus looked perplexed.
“I imagine that might be hard with no opposable thumbs.”
He reached down for the brush, picking out clumps of hair from the last use. The brush glided through Sirius’s fur like silk, so dogs can brush themselves.
Remus put the brush back down and watched Sirius transform back.
“I was quite enjoying the first class treatment from you Moony, shame it had to come to an end.” Sirius put on a fake pout before bursting out laughing, and honestly Remus couldn’t help but join him.
When it stopped Sirius left no time for the bright atmosphere to linger.
“So how are you feeling about the full moon tonight?”
Remus stared for a moment unsure of what to say. He had been dreading this question to say the least.
“Um, I suppose I’m feeling alright.”
“Alright? You never have a mixed opinion about full moon nights.” Sirius raised an eyebrow.
“I mean it’s either you are excited or scared, no in between!”
Remus let out a sigh, Sirius was right, rarely, but he was right.
The full moon, a time for celebration with his friends or fear. His wolf had made it difficult to even think about this full moon.
☽
Remus was worried, more worried then he ever had been.
His heart raced at the mere thought of moonlight upon his skin. The sense of impending horror clawed at his insides.
The time was drawing near, his wolf would come out to play soon.
It had started in 2nd year, when he first heard its voice. It rumbled through his skin with a call of familiarity.
He had resisted its subtle whispers, he thought he might have been going mad.
No book in the library talked about your inner wolf. They were all written by people without the vile curse of lycanthropy.
After a while Remus made peace with it.
After all his wolf was a part of him, he could not resist it. However, as the years went by, the voice got angrier.
Perhaps, it was puberty. Maybe, all that testosterone coursing through his veins made it charged with anger.
Although anger isn’t the only thing he feels.
Wolves mate for life, typically between February and March.
Valentine’s Day had just passed a few weeks ago. Him and his friends spent the holiday comforting James as he whined about another rejection from lily.
They ate chocolate and laughed about Lockhart sending himself eight hundred valentines. Peter complained that several owls' feathers fell into his porridge while the others cracked jokes about the bird poop in Snape’s hair.
So, maybe it was in the air but suddenly his wolf started to look at his friends or friend differently.
Sirius had offered his hand when others would turn away in fear he might bite it. He was a friend Remus could confidently say would be with him for life, they were compatible.
His wolf howled when he slept filling his subconscious with images of Sirius. Sirius unwrapping presents at Christmas, Sirius splashing around black lake, Sirius playing with first years, and Sirius being Sirius.
He could barely look at Sirius without his wolf calling for a claim. Sirius was his mate, but not in that way, never in that way.
He tried and tried to pull away, to distance himself, but Sirius’s long locs and leather jackets always called him back. No matter how hard Remus tried he couldn’t stay away from Sirius.
He hoped that he could stay away from him tonight.
The full moon on the horizon always filled him with dread but tonight he was terrified. Even with wolfsbane, he was still more animal than human.
Remus hunted even with his mind intact.
He tore through animal carcasses, flesh and bone. The taste of mouth watering carmine blood never failed to bring him back to consciousness, controlling the beast.
It kept him up at night that he could inflict damage onto his friends, that he could kill them. His wolf couldn’t see the contrast between enemies and friends. They are nothing but food to it.
Hunger is what he feels toward Sirius. At first he believed that his wolf wanted to eat him.
Remus’s body buzzed with desire when he came into contact with him. His mouth searched for something to sink into.
Horrified would be an understatement, what Remus felt was despair. Consuming his best friend, whole, wasn't on his list of goals.
His heart weighed down, burdened, with his atrocious form, his curse.
When he finally realized that what his wolf wanted wasn’t food it was too late. The lycanthrope had chosen a mate and refused to choose a new one.