Chapter One

A wave of panic rushed over Remus Lupin when he realized he didn't know where the bloody hell he was. His eyes fluttered open wildly, his breath quickened, and a nervous sweat began to trickle down his forehead. No, no, no, no, no. He couldn't remember the night before at all. How was it he had no recollection? He turned his head and a searing pain shot through his neck.

A candle was flickering softly on a table beside him.

It then occurred to Remus that he was laying on a mattress in a candle-lit room with insufferable head pains and (he lifted a heavy hand to his bare abdomen) no clothes on. No, this was not at all a thought he found comforting.

He had another go at moving his head, this time completely lifting it up from the mattress, but his body argued with him and he was forced to settle back down into a pillow that had a rather odd smell. Like cocoa and fire whisky. Remus didn't dislike the combination. In fact, he found it intriguing. Whose bed was this with such an interesting smell, he wanted to know? But then, the panic of where he was returned and he dismissed the curious smell of the pillow.

Think. Where is my wand? His hand shot down to his side where he usually kept his wand in the waistband of his pants. Ah yes. I am stark naked. He felt his face grow hot. Who was going to find him here without a stitch of clothing on? The thought was humiliating. It could be worse. No one could find me at all.

A surge of fear hit Remus and he jerked himself up from the pillow, sitting himself straight up on the mattress. His eyes darted around the room anxiously until they locked onto the person standing in the corner by a locked door. He yelped in surprise and moved his hands to cover as much of himself as he could.

The person was standing in shadows and Remus found his features to be undistinguishable without the light of the candle.

"It's okay," said the voice. It was cool and collected.

Remus blinked.

"How are you feeling?"

Blink.

"I'm sorry you have to wake up like this. You must be horribly confused."

"Just a bit, yeah."

The voice laughed. It was the genuine laugh belonging to that of a young man.

Remus grinned, despite himself.

"Oh you're bleeding just a bit there. On the forehead." The owner of the voice took a step forward and Remus gasped.

A mane of silver draped the face of Draco Malfoy as he stepped into the light.

"Draco?"

"Professor."

Remus' eyes were huge. "What's going on?"

Draco slid onto the edge of the bed next to Remus and dabbed at his forehead. What Remus had thought to be sweat was actually blood.

As Draco worked at cleaning his cut, Remus took the time to evaluate him. His looks had changed drastically since their last meeting. That night on the astronomy tower…the night Dumbledore had died.

That night, Draco had been worn and exhausted. His face had been dull and pale and his hair had fallen nearly to his shoulders. Now, he looked handsome and his skin was glowing. His hair almost sparkled, cut shorter than before with a few pieces straying in front of his eyes. Remus was beside himself.

"I found you last night, Professor."

"No need to call me Professor, Draco. I am no longer your teacher."

"Sorry, sir. What shall I call you?"

He thought about this for a moment. "Remus is fine."

"Remus," it sounded strange to hear the words. "I found you last night, or rather early this morning. You were lying naked in my backyard, you see."

Remus' cheeks were back to blushing as he was reminded again of his nakedness.

"You don't really need to be embarrassed. You looked, I mean you look, erm." It was Draco's turn to blush.

"Let's not bother ourselves with venturing deeper into this matter than necessary."

"Right. So I found you naked in my backyard and-

Something in Remus' head suddenly clicked. Last night had been the full moon. He remembered pushing away the goblet Snape had handed him with the potion fuming inside. "Draco I must explain what happened. I'm sure you're aware of the extent of my…nature."

"I know you're a werewolf, professor. I mean, Remus. And it doesn't bother me. Though I'm assuming you are about to explain that you were transformed when you decided to curl up behind my house?"

"Exactly. I don't remember the precise happenings of last night. All I know is I didn't take my Wolfsbane Potion and had to place myself deep into the forest before I began to change." Remus buried his head in his hands and sighed. "God knows what I did last night. I only hope no one was hurt."

Draco placed a shaky hand on his former professor's shoulder and was surprised by its warmth. He was even more surprised by the reaction it had on his heartbeat. Could Remus' werewolf senses detect the sudden quickening of his breath as his chest began to rise and fall rapidly? Draco wasn't sure if he wanted Remus to know what his touch did to him or not. But he kept his hand on the bare shoulder, unable and unwilling to take it away. Remus glanced up at the blonde boy. Well, the blonde man by this point, Remus decided. Draco had to be at least seventeen since it had been over a year ago he saw him last when he had been a sixth year. Yes, Draco was a man. Quite a handsome man, at that. This thought unnerved Remus slightly and he shook the soft hand off of his shoulder despite how calming it had felt against his skin. He was suddenly aware of the silence in the room and cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"I'd like to thank you, Draco, for taking me in. But I must ask, why the hell did you? Judging by your past, I never took you to be the considerate type," Remus said. Then he realized how much of a prick he was being and followed it with, "Oh that sounds awful. I apologize. Especially after what you've done for me."

"It's fine. No, you're right, I never was considerate. Especially not to you. But you must understand Remus," Remus shuddered at the casual use of his name rolling off the tip of Draco's tongue. "I am substantially different than I used to be. Pardon my language, but I was fucked up big time. If it hadn't been for Professor Snape I would either be dead or this," he lifted up the left sleeve of his black sweater to reveal his dark mark, "would still be controlling my life." His eyes drifted back to Remus' and he continued. "My father is in Azkaban and the name Malfoy will never be respected again, but perhaps the name Draco will be. Perhaps, now that the war is over I…I can begin." He finished and looked away from Remus, toiling his thumbs in his lap.

"I believe that…perhaps you can, Draco. Indeed, perhaps you can."

"Thank you, sir," said Draco, his voice gentle and quiet. "Now that that's settled, let's get you some clothes, hmm?"

"Who?" Sirius asked. His eyes were wide and disconcerted. "Exactly who found your stupid arse last night?"

"This morning. Draco Malfoy. Sirius why are you laughing?" He rolled his eyes at his friend sitting across from him at The Three Broomsticks. It had become the two best friends' ritual to meet nightly at the pub and laugh over endless butterbeers. They never spoke of the war. Or of Harry. Conversation was strictly superficial. Mostly gossip and details of recent shags. Well, mostly Sirius' shags, as was expected. Remus mostly spoke of funny things happening at work. Something idiotic a student did, or a joke he had heard in the faculty room. This night, however, Remus had told Sirius of his forgotten evening and his unexpected rescuer.

"A fucking Malfoy? Moony, you've lost your mind. It couldn't have been that brown nosing, conspiring, little chicken shit!"

"Lower your voice for Christ's sake."

"Sorry, mate," said Sirius, his voice dropping lower. "Have you forgotten what this boy has done?"

"Of course not, Sirius. I never forget."

"And you didn't jinx the hell out of him when you had the chance?"

Remus considered this for a moment. "I might've if I had been given the chance but when I woke up I didn't have my wand. He had hidden it you see. Probably for that very reason. Clever lad, that one."

Sirius ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "So let me get this absolutely straight. Not only did you fail to take your potion last night, but you woke up in baby Malfoy's arms and let him take away your wand? And you actually listened to the tripe he fed you?"

"I believe him, Pads. He wants to start over. You can't necessarily blame him for that."

"Well he can start by going to hell. That's what I would've told the pussy if I had been there."

"So it's good you weren't," Remus said coolly. Sirius glared at him for a moment, then took a swig of his butterbeer. "Fine. If you believe the bastard is all dandelions and rainbows now, then I'll believe it too. Begrudgingly. Even though I think it's the biggest codswallop I've ever heard-

"Sirius."

"Fine, fine. Not another word out of my mouth about the fucker." Remus cocked an eyebrow. "I mean…the adorable little prat. Don't look at me that way Rem, that's the best I can do."

"Thanks, Sirius. I sort of owe him my humility, you know."

"I suppose you sort of do." Sirius lit a fag. "So how does he look?"

Remus choked on his butterbeer, coughing and sputtering with surprise from the question. "What do you mean?"

Sirius smiled. "Well we can both admit that Lucious was always quite something to look at. I imagine Draco didn't fall too far from the tree in that department." Remus was blushing like mad. "So how does he look?"

"Fine," was all Remus said.

"I'll bet." Sirius laughed at his crimson-faced friend and took a long drag from his cigarette.

Remus went to bed that night more than slightly drunk. The dizziness felt good as he stared up at the ceiling and his head was crammed with visions of shimmery silver hair and soft hands and…uh oh. Remus regarded the uninvited swelling under the sheets warily. It was one thing to find himself aroused from thinking about Sirius, which happened most drunken nights. It was another to be aroused with thoughts of Draco Malfoy and how good his touch had felt. How strangely considerate he had been. How he had felt Draco's heart quicken at touching his bare shoulder. It had been so erotic to be naked on a bed with him. He remembered how the pillow had smelt of cocoa and whiskey and Remus took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Trying to ease down his erection. But in the next moment, his hand was touching himself, rubbing himself, coaxing his pulsing cock into sweet submission until at last, he came into his hand.

"Dammit."