#paddedmoon

@blackathogwarts​

Remus could hear voices in the distance, they sounded familiar but he couldn’t quite tell what was going on yet. It was as if a bludger had hit him in the head, his ears were ringing and his mouth tasted just awful. The sheets were soft against his body, the air smelled funny, like blood, various potions and dog? Dog, he probably was forgetting something important.

Remus could hear pathetic whining, he wanted to tell the person to shut up. And then it hit him, he was the one making that annoying sound. Slowly, the memories started to come back.

Hogwarts, whomping willow, shrieking shack, pack, full moon, the wolf.

Surprisingly enough, it hadn’t been a terribly rough moon. He had thought, since his anxiety had skyrocketed in the past few days, the beast would be more vicious than usual. That hadn’t been the case. His chin was coloured dark purple on some spots, his curls were messier than ever and his cheeks covered in small cuts, probably the result of playing around and not the wolf scratching himself.

The boy tried opening his eyes, the place he recognized as the hospital wing was so bright it hurt. He wondered why Madame Pomfrey insisted in keeping the curtains open, Remus was sure most students hated being blinded with natural light so early in the morning. Then, he doubted it was early as he had the tendency to sleep for too many hours after his transformation. Remus would have laughed if he wasn’t afraid it would make him feel even worse.

The voices wouldn’t stop, but he didn’t want them to anymore when he finally got the gist of what was going on in the room. Sirius (That’s why it smelled like wet dog!) was trying to convince Madame Pomfrey to let him stay with the werewolf. He wished his friend good luck as the nurse was known for being very strict with the students and their visits. When Remus was younger he had tried asking her -it surely had sounded more much like begging- to let him have his friends around. She complied, once.

‘Please?’ His voice sounded awful and his throat felt raw evidencing the wolf had had a little too much fun with the others. ‘Please?’ Remus said once more, in case they hadn’t heard him before.

Remus kept tossing and turning in bed. The moon was staring at him but he wasn’t scared. No, it’d be another nine days before the wolf would take over his body and mind. He cringed at the thought of his bones cracking and repositioning themselves to bring the beast to the world but this year would be different. He wasn’t alone anymore. He had a pack. 

Remus needed some fresh air, he needed a reminder everything was okay. He thought nobody heard him leave the room, or mutter curse words when he hit his toe with a chair. He thought he was the only one that had to ignore the fat lady’s comments when leaving gryffindor’s common room. However that was proven wrong by the amount of footsteps he could hear in the corridors.

‘Padfoot, rough night?’ 

Remus didn’t have to turn around to know it was him. James and Peter were snoring when he left and Sirius had a tendency to stick to him the same way a puppy would. It was endearing, really. It did wonderful things to his self-worth.