HP universe, own I do not.

Pot Luck: Your image prompt will be a traditional piece of artwork (don't worry, none will be abstract or expressionist). Your optional prompt will be the title of the piece and any more information given by the artist.

Image: 'Lunar Web' by Lyonel Feininger

Optional - shattered, angst, moonlight

Therapy

The nightmares were coming more frequently. Remus could not say which stressor triggered them - infiltrating Greyback's pack to attempt to lure as many members away from the feral beast or the series of articles written about werewolves. Maybe it was a combination of the two but whatever it was, it was ruining the nights he could enjoy. He was not registered, so going to a mind healer was out of the question. They would be duty bound to report him to the ministry, as being a 'dangerous dark creature' superseded any oath about healer/patient confidentiality. After all Albus (even though he was seven years out of Hogwarts, he still had trouble referring to the former Headmaster by his first name) had done for him, he could not be (although he was) identified as the 'unspecified rouge creature' that injured an under aged wizard while on Hogwarts grounds that was reported about in the Daily Prophet. How that Skeeter woman found out about that incident, Remus did not know. He just knew that without direct proof, he couldn't be directly named, although judging by the looks he was given by his former classmates, he suspected many (and accurately so) suspected him. Remus also knew that if he was turned in, it would mean Azkaban for Albus Dumbledore and for him, death. He cared little about dying, but with Voldemort out there building up his power base, the wizarding world needed Dumbledore, founder and leader of the Order of the Phoenix, out on the front lines if (when) a wizarding civil war broke out in Britain.

However, he could not continue not getting any sleep. Remus did not want to become dependent on the Dreamless Sleep potion and because of what he was, muggle medicines would be as effective as the lemon drops the Headmaster (Albus, he mentally corrected himself) offered everyone at the beginning of the Order's meetings. His last transformation had been especially horrible because of the lack of sleep and Prongs had almost become a midnight snack. Even between transformations it was hard for him to suppress certain tendencies and as a result, Remus had started to stay away from the only people left that he considered family – Lily, Harry, Prongs, Padfoot, and (whenever he showed up) Wormtail. Something had to give. His mind felt fractured, shattered in jagged little bits and he did not know how or if he could put the pieces back together. Then he felt foolish and blamed it on living as a wizard for too long. He was a half-blood wizard and unlike most half-bloods, he was born in a muggle hospital. His birth was registered with the Ministry of Magic three days later through the squib liaison at the hospital where he was born. Therefore, he had access to the muggle healthcare system, one he had not used since becoming of age in the wizarding world. Feeling hopeful for the first time since the nightmares started, he traveled by Floo to the Leaky so he could reach muggle London.

Some Months Later

"So Remus, have you taken my advice?"

"No, I haven't. Maggie, I keep telling you, with all of these responsibilities I have, I don't have time for trivial things."

"This 'trivial thing' you're so . . . so . . . ," Maggie Roberts, Remus' therapist, sputtered. She sighed, calming herself before she continued.

"You're not trying to follow my advice. I tell you to slow down, scale back some of your responsibilities – you come to me session after session telling me about them. I ask you to do meditation exercises in an effort to calm your mind so you can get at least three nights of uninterrupted sleep. You say it hasn't worked, but I think I'm guessing correctly when I say you're not even trying. Remus, you're burning the candle at both ends. If you don't take care of yourself, you will end up dead. Come back to see me when you're serious because right now, you're wasting my time."

Remus looked at Maggie with a shocked look on his face, not believing what he had just heard.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. I have rearranged my schedule to fit your schedule because I knew without you even saying a word that you needed help, yet you won't allow me to help you. I can't help you when you're unwilling to meet me halfway."

"I am willing to have you help me, I just don't know how to make it work," Remus roared, his voice at a terrifying volume. Maggie did not flinch, instead, she smirked.

"Finally, some show of emotion from you. What did I tell you at our first session, Remus?"

"That suppressing my emotions wasn't healthy and that's why my emotional outbursts were so violent. But I have to control my emotions because if I don't, I will become a monster."

"My dear boy, not embracing your emotions, the highs and the lows, makes you a monster. Not feeling makes you less than human." Maggie took off her glasses to polish them, an unnecessary task as they were spotless.

"Obviously, you're afraid to express yourself verbally. This is more than likely is because while you were in school you were part of a group dynamic, a group that may have been considered as the popular crowd, but you were not the leader. Matter of fact, you were a follower, glad to have those around you as friends and you did not want to do or say anything to jeopardize your friendship with them. In short, you're a people pleaser."

Remus stared at Maggie, amazed that she saw all of that. He did not speak of his friends, his family really, afraid that he may let something slip about the wizarding world.

"Are you a Seer," he blurted before the filter between his brain and mouth had a chance to work properly. Remus briefly looked horrified before schooling his features once more.

Smiling, Maggie answered in the negative. "I am a mother of three teenagers and two young adults. You're not that much older than my only daughter and second eldest child. I know the social ladder when I see one."

Looking at the clock, Maggie noticed that they were thirty minutes over their scheduled time. But since Remus was always her last scheduled patient since his first session with her, she did not mind.

"Looks like our time is up," Remus stated absently.

"Yes, it is. Before you leave, however, I want to know, do you have a hobby?"

"I do, well, I did. Now I don't because - ,"

"– you don't have the time for it. Since the meditation exercises I have suggested are not to your liking, I want you to do whatever that hobby of yours is when you cannot sleep. Maybe that will help you. Try that, and we will discuss if it has helped or not in the next two weeks."

Maggie Roberts did not ever see Remus again. She often thought of the angst filled young man, especially when she heard the whispered dark rumors in the hallways of the practice where she worked. Opening her office door, her eyes widened when she saw what was on the wall behind her desk. It drew her in as it seemed to glow, filling her office with soft moonlight.