Title: The Morning After
Summary: Remus awakes the morning after a full moon.
Rating: T
Warnings: Non-sexual mention of nudity.
Word Count: 415
Author's Notes: This was written as a gift for iamshadow on Livejournal, who is a masterful Remus writer. This is my first attempt at writing Remus and I truly hope that I managed to give his character justice.
The Morning After
Remus' eyes fluttered open as he roused from his fitful slumber. The easy breathing coming from his three companions told him that they were still asleep; no doubt exhausted from having kept the wolf at bay last night. It had proved to be a particularly difficult moon. The wolf had been especially restless and had proved a challenge for even Padfoot and Prongs to keep up with.
He was naked, as he always was on the morning after a full moon, but this had long since ceased to be a source of embarrassment for Remus, and had been accepted by his friends as being merely a part of the routine. He was lying curled up on his side on the floor of the Shrieking Shack, sandwiched warmly between Padfoot and Prongs. Wormtail had nestled into the small gap in between the base of Prongs' neck and shoulder, where he could remain close to the group and still be in no danger of being accidentally crushed in his sleep.
Despite the throbbing pain in his body, Remus felt peaceful lying here with his friends. He felt the gentle bristle of short spiky fur against the bare skin of his back as Prongs shifted slightly in his sleep. He could hear the higher pitched sound of Wormtail's breathing close to his ear, while Padfoot had snuggled in close to his chest.
Remus knew that no matter what horrible toll these transformations took on his body that these mornings were moments to be treasured. When his friends had learned the truth behind his shameful condition they had every reason in the world to have shunned him. Instead they had not only embraced and safeguarded his secret, but spent painstaking hours to study the art of Animagus transformation. For him they spent each full moon as a stag, a dog, and a rat. They did it for him, and his knowledge of that fact was overwhelming at times.
Remus had spent far too many mornings after alone not to recognize exactly what a precious gift these boys, his friends had given to him. Absentmindedly, he reached out and began to lazily stroke at the soft black fur on Padfoot's head and smiled as he heard his mate's gentle hum of contentment. Remus didn't know how he'd ever gotten lucky enough to have gotten such wonderful friends in his life. All he knew is that now that he had them, he couldn't imagine what he would ever do without them.
