Written for "The Marauders' Seventh Year" comp hosted by Quills and Parchment. I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. Those belong to J.K. Rowling
Remus Lupin sat in Transfiguration class holding his head in pain. Since he'd returned to Hogwarts after Christmas holidays a week ago, every time he was out of the dorm he shared with the other marauders, his inner wolf Moony would be howling for him to claim his mate. The constant mental howling; combined with the mental effort it was taking to keep in control was causing Remus to have a constant headache. His only solace was at least he knew his mate was one of the Gryffindor girls of his year as that was the only other group besides the other Marauders that he was constantly around. He knew it was only a matter of time before he'd go to Madam Pomfrey for a pain reducer only to then fight it all again for as long as he could before he'd have to go back. He didn't want to cause any alarm. Just another half hour of class and he could go to see Madam Pomfrey.
Unfortunately for him, James and Sirius just started a quiet argument next to him. Although to mostly everyone else, it would seem quiet, to Remus with his sensitive lycan hearing, it seemed louder.
"Will you two wankers shut up?" Remus growled at the pair, his eyes flashing golden briefly, unknown to him.
"What's gotten into you Moony?" James quietly asked.
"Not enough sanity." Remus muttered. He then gathered his things and walked up to Professor McGonagall.
"Professor, I'm not feeling too well. Very bad headache. May I be excused to go see Madam Pomfrey for a pain potion?" Remus asked.
"Of course Mister Lupin." Minerva softened as she wrote him a note. "Give this to her as soon as you get there."
Remus nodded as he took the note. "Thanks Professor." He turned and walked towards the door, stopping long enough to mutter 'Hospital wing' to James and Sirius so they wouldn't worry.
About halfway between the Transfiguration classroom and the hospital wing, Remus stopped and leaned against the wall. Since he'd left his class, his inner wolf had been howling at him to go back to be near his mate. He was already feeling weaker this week because the full moon was only three days away. Remus took a couple of steadying breaths before pushing from the wall and continuing on towards the Hospital wing.
Madam Pomfrey was waiting on him with a soft smile.
"Tried to go longer before coming here, Mr. Lupin?" She gently questioned.
"Huh? Oh. I guess." He grunted and held his head with one hand while handing her the note from Professor McGonagall with his other.
Poppy took the note and nodded. "You were due in anyway." She gently led him to what had basically been known as "his bed" throughout his entire time at Hogwarts. "Headache too? Just lay right back and I'll get you something for that."
Remus laid down and watched with a soft smile as the Matron hurried away to grab the potions she was sure he likely needed. It was only minutes later the Matron was handing him a soother for his headache followed by dreamless sleep.
"Allow the usual visitors, Mister Lupin?" She asked after he handed back both vials. She knew he'd know who she was referring to.
"Not until tomorrow." Remus answered. "Sleepy." He murmured as his eyes closed in sleep.
Madam Pomfrey chuckled softly as she closed the curtains around his bed and cast spells that would alert her when he awoke or if he was in distress. Once the spells were in place, she bustled away to her office.
Hours later, Remus awoke to a whispered "Moony!" from his bedside. Remus opened his eyes and was about to shoo away his still hidden visitors. He was stopped by Madam Pomfrey's appearance at the other side to check on him. The other Marauders remained out of sight under James' invisibility cloak while the Matron checked Remus over.
"You were clearly more tired than you thought, Mister Lupin. You missed dinner. I'll have the house elves bring you something. Make sure you eat up and get your rest." Madam Pomfrey returned to her office once more.
Remus spent a short time appeasing the other Marauders quietly before he eventually shooed them out so he could get more rest. He had a feeling he was going to need as much rest as possible before this next full moon.
Remus was led out to the whomping willow three days later by Madam Pomfrey as had happened every full moon he spent at Hogwarts. He chanced a glance around the grounds, his eyes briefly glowing amber as he noticed a pair of eyes watching him from within the shadows of the forest. Quickly, Remus pushed down Moony just enough to not risk harming Madam Pomfrey. He then scurried into the tunnels protected by the currently frozen willow tree and headed for the shack to await the other Marauders.
It didn't seem to be a long wait before he saw their shadows outside of the room he usually transformed in. But he knew it had been longer than he'd thought when a double knock on the door accompanied their shadows as it was a signal they'd agreed upon to let Remus know the moon was too high upon their arrival. It meant that by the time he'd actually get to see the other Marauders, it would be after they all transformed; him into a werewolf and them into their animagus forms.
In less than a minute, Remus was already starting to feel the tell-tale beginning signs as his bones snapped to allow for the lengthening limbs. If anything Remus experienced in his life seemed to take much more time than it actually did, it was always his transformations. Eventually Moony was in control. And Moony was not in the mood to roughhouse with his pack.
As soon as the door was opened by Padfoot, Moony practically shoved his way past the dog as well as the stag known as Prongs, heading back through the tunnels towards Hogwarts. There was only one thing on Moony's mind: To find the source of the eyes he had seen on the way to the whomping willow. For Moony knew that the source of those eyes was his mate and he planned to take advantage of having full control this one night to claim and mark his mate.
Once he had gotten free of the tunnel, Moony stopped briefly to sniff the air for his mate to be's scent. He had just gotten a grasp on it right when the rest of his pack emerged from beneath the whomping willow. He heard the warning growl from Padfoot and returned it with a growl of his own, reminding the dog of the 'hierarchy' of their pack that put Moony at the head. At the answering whine of submission, Moony nodded and looked towards the forest, stepping towards it and giving a growl of a different tone, to call out to the one he was looking for that was hiding.
An answering howl was heard close by as the source stepped out. A gorgeous white wolf with enchanting green eyes slowly padded from her hiding place behind two thick trees. Her head was low and her neck bared in submission, as her eyes never left his. Moony nodded in approval as he went over to the wolf and scent-marked her by rubbing his face against hers. The action was followed by lightly nipping her bared neck and nudging her towards the whomping willow. For Moony knew well that his human counterpart would not take well to waking in the forest come morning. As he did so, he gave a low growl to the unusual pack.
The growl propelled the smallest member, Wormtail, into hurried action. The little rat quickly pressed the knot that would freeze the dangerous tree. Moony nudged the female wolf ahead of him through the tunnels, putting himself between her and the rest of the pack. After she'd made it into the room Moony used to transform, the werewolf gave a warning growl to the remainder of the pack, so they would know to not follow. Moony then went in the room and shut the door behind him.
The remaining hours of the night, the shack was filled with twice the usual number of howls as Moony properly claimed his new mate. Unfortunately for the marauders, all three of them were forced to hear the sounds the entire time as they were of the impression that Moony was mating with an actual wolf. With that impression, the trio knew that come sunrise, their friend would be in no condition to fight off a wild wolf and Madam Pomfrey might not make it in time to defend him. And so, the dog, stag and rat remained close by for their friend's sake, only daring to doze when it finally grew quiet in the other room.
It was to an exclamation of "Bloody Hell!" coming from Remus that awoke the other Marauders. Immediately, the trio transformed back and headed to the door with their wands drawn.
"Everything okay in there, Moony?!" James called out as he slowly pushed the door open a crack.
"Just wondering what the hell I did last night." Remus stretched with a groan of pain.
"A lot of action." Sirius piped in.
James elbowed him as they looked around to see the wolf that had been with Moony last night was gone.
Remus shook his head. "Whatever. You guys better go. Madam Pomfrey will be here soon. I'll see you guys in classes in a few days, yeah?" He leaned against a wall. He felt better than he had in ages after a full moon but as he had no idea as to why, he didn't necessarily want the others to catch on just yet.
The others nodded and with a swish of James' invisibility cloak, the trio was gone from sight and making their way back to the castle. Madam Pomfrey came in soon after to do an initial look-over of Remus before helping him back up to the castle and the hospital wing.
Two days later, Remus was released from the hospital wing in time for breakfast with a clean bill of health and a peculiar mark on his left shoulder. Between what the other Marauders had told him and Moony going off in his head, he'd learned that he had apparently found his mate as a wolf during the full moon and it was likely that they had marked each other. That information had Remus a bit more alert as he sat among the other Gryffindors, knowing it had to be a Gryffindor even if he hadn't told the other Marauders yet.
It wasn't until he happened to glimpse Lily's currently braided hair sliding off of her shoulder while in Transfiguration that he realized just who his mate happened to be. For there on her right shoulder was the matching mark to his. Quickly, he penned a short note asking her to talk in private after class since they had a free period and passed it to her. He sighed in relief at her discreet nod of agreement.
After class, Lily waited for him outside the classroom. When Remus appeared and started to open his mouth, she shook her head.
"Not here. Come on." Lily led him to the quarters where she stayed as Head Girl with James, who was Head Boy. Once they were inside, she turned to Remus with a smile. "Relax, Remus. I know that you're a werewolf. I've known since near the end of sixth year. I figured it out on my own. And I knew about James, Sirius and Peter being animagi just as long. I happened to see them head to the whomping willow not long after Madam Pomfrey had taken you."
Remus let out a soft sigh of relief. "And you're alright with…?" He gestured to the marks on their shoulders.
Lily blushed. "I'm fine with it. Remember, my patronus is a wolf. It wasn't that hard to figure out it was a possibility we were meant to be." She looked away briefly. "Plus, I kinda had a crush on you since last year." She murmured.
"Should I be worried about James being ready to hex me?" Remus hesitated even as he blushed a bit at picking up her muttered admission due to his lupine hearing.
"No. He kinda figured I wasn't his soulmate when we learned the patronus charm. I'm surprised you hadn't noticed he'd backed off some time ago." Lily chuckled.
"And when did you become an animagus?" Remus questioned.
"Started training over the summer. Managed to succeed just before we returned from the Christmas holidays." Lily blushed. "Figured you could use someone else being out there with you during full moons."
Remus smiled softly as he took one of her hands in his. "I'm sorry that we're working backwards. I would've liked to have at least dated some before marking you." He chuckled. "You know James and Sirius are going to want to give you a Marauder nickname to go with your form."
Lily giggled. "You could always pick one for me yourself before we tell them. You are the alpha afterall."
Remus thought for a moment. "Thinking either Luna or Moonlight. Knowing Sirius, he'd want to call you Mrs Moony." He shook his head. "How about we have our first date tonight during dinner? I'm sure I can get the elves to fix something special."
"Looking forward to it." She leaned close and kissed him.
If the new couple hadn't already known they were fated to be, they would've known for sure the moment they kissed. It was the first of what would hopefully be very many.
Fin