He had no idea what time it was when he woke. He looked up at the naked boards over his head and the velvet bedcover beneath him.

He could hear the clang of pots in the kitchen and his stomach growled at the scent of bacon coming from the next room brought a picture of the brown-haired beauty to mind..

He went into the room and found her smiling at the stove with a spatula in hand. "I don't know about you, but when I wake up I crave protein. Bacon, eggs, ham. Sound good?"

"Delicious," he admitted. "But I don't want to trespass-"

She waved his objections away and motioned to the table. "Sit," she ordered, coming over with a plate of eggs. "These are getting cold."

He sat, digging in with gusto. He'd devoured it before she got back to the table with a few pieces of bacon, munching herself.

"Want me to take over? I can make the next set…"

"I'm fine," she disagreed, going back to the stove. "I'm nibbling."

When she finally sat down to eat facing him they lapsed into silence. He waited until her enthusiasm had waned a bit and she was eating at a more sedate pace before he cleared his throat. She looked up at him but his eyes swiftly slipped away. She chewed thoughtfully watching him look everywhere but at her. Finally she sighed and dropped her fork. "Honestly, out with it already."
"I just, I wondered, I know how it looks but...did we...if you remember being the wolf..."
She looked at him blankly and when he didn't elaborate further she offered, "I do."
"Then you would know, if we had," he glanced desperately at her but she continued to stare blankly. Finally he muttered, "been intimate."
She burst out laughing as he turned bright red. "I don't know how much you've looked into wolf mating rituals, but it isn't terribly intimate." She pulled down the neck of her dress to reveal more of the angry red welts. "Did you see the love bites? Of course we did."
He sighed and looked down at his plate. "I just hoped..."
"Oy, I'm not that bad!"
"It's nothing to do with you," he hurried to assure her. "I just, it would be my luck that I don't remember my first...time."
She looked at him aghast.

"You've never been with a woman?" He shook his head. "Or...a man?"
He chuckled ruefully and shook his head, taking another bite of egg. "I'm not gay."
"Just asking," she asserted, holding up her hands. "How old are you?"
"23," he said. "It's been a choice. I don't want to lead on someone...normal."
She tapped her fingers on the table. "Have you ever been in a pack?" He shook his head. "So you're trying to be a normal wizard without any of the romance?"
"I guess you could say that."
She shook her head and stood to clear the plates. "Sounds like playing with an exploding snap set. Sooner or later you're going to get burned."
"I'm careful," he said, joining her to help. "I can always pick up and leave."
"Thank you," she said, accepting the dishes and glancing up at him. "You know you aren't bad looking."
"Thank you?"
"You know I could probably do something about that."
"About what?"
"Well it is pretty sad, not remembering your first time. And this way you could say it was me
"I don't need you to...just out of sympathy."
She shrugged and sauntered over to him, putting her arms around his neck. "Maybe it's plain old loneliness," she suggested, running a hand over his cheek. "We're pack animals. We're meant to be together." She stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him, slowly and tentatively at first, but as he softened into the temptation she pressed closer and deepened the kiss. They were both breathless by the time she pulled away. "That feel like sympathy to you?" she gasped out.
"I hope not," he sighed, looking down into her eyes. "You really want to do this?"
She grinned at him. "Well we have already been cavorting around naked in the woods and you spent two days in my bed. Is this really so much more...intimate?"
"Yes," he said without a moment's hesitation.
She chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. "We'll see how you feel after," she said, taking his hand and leading him toward the bedroom.

He woke disoriented the next morning. Sunlight was filtering in through a small window above him. Lethargy dragged at his body the way it always did after a transformation, holding him in place while he tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
He was on a bed, sturdy cotton sheets that smelled clean beneath him, his head on an overstuffed pillow. It was a far cry from the worn cotton and nearly flat pillow in his own room. He could hear birds singing through the window, no sound of cars that could usually be heard in his flat. And most puzzling of all there was a pleasantly warm, very soft weight on his chest.
Brown hair greeted him, and a picture of Dora fell into place in his head. He couldn't help a smile crossing his face he was fairly glad she couldn't see.
But as the memories faded reality set in. He'd never been in this situation before. He didn't want to run out on her but he wasn't necessarily looking forward to the awkward moment when she woke.
Moving slowly he eased out from under her, leaving his pillow under her head. He collected the clothing he'd had the day before and withdrew to the bathroom to change. The shower beckoned and his over sensitive nose brought him a banquette of less than pleasant smells.
The hot water felt wonderful on his aching muscles left over from the transformation. He felt his muscles unknotting despite himself. He allowed himself the luxury of staying in far longer than his own pathetic water heater in his flat would have allowed.
Eventually he did step out, grabbing the nearest towel to dry and hoping she wouldn't mind. Then he chuckled at himself when he considered what they had done sharing a towel was a fairly benign invasion.
He stepped back out to find her just as he'd left her on the bed. He indulged for a moment enjoying the long sweep of hair over her creamy skin, making note of a long birthmark he hadn't noticed the night before that ran down one shoulder to her mid-back.
When his stomach growled so loudly he was afraid of waking her he went into the kitchen. In her fridge he found the eggs were completely gone but ham, sausage, and bacon remained. He pulled out a skillet and started frying away.
It wasn't ten minutes before she emerged from the bedroom, sheet from the bed knotted around her. He smiled at her over his shoulder and she stepped behind him to put her arms around him. "You showered."
"Hope you don't mind."
He felt her shake her head. "You smell good." He turned to raise an eyebrow at her and she shrugged. "So does the food. I could get used to this, other people cooking for me."
"Glad to be of service," he said. "I just started. It will be a few minutes."
"Maybe I'll hop in the shower myself."
"Get a fresh towel," he warned. "The one in there will be wet. I hope there's some hot water left."
"There will be," she yawned. "I'm plugged in to the one upstairs. It's enormous." She placed a quick kiss on his shoulder. "Thank you for the warning though."
He nodded and she turned and walked out of the room.
She returned 15 minutes later, hair damp and far curlier than he'd seen it. Her leggings were back with a simple red dress over it. Without preamble she plopped into a chair and dug in.
Her table manners weren't what he would have classified as refined, but when he was this hungry he wasn't certain his were either.
When she sat back with a satisfied smile he picked up her plate and carried it to the sink and began rinsing them off. "You could leave it," she said. "I'll get to it in a bit."
"I don't mind," he asserted. "But I should get to my place. Could I borrow your wand to apparate? As soon as I have mine I'll bring it back."
She nodded, setting it on the table. She stared at a painting on the wall to his left and said casually, "You could pack a bag. Come back and spend a few days here."
He looked at her but her face betrayed no emotion at all. "Would you like that?"
She shrugged noncommittally. "Wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't, would I?"
He smiled at her, and she caught his eye and smiled back. "Wouldn't hurt me certainly. This place is a palace compared to my tiny flat. What would your landlords say though?" he asked with a pointed look at the ceiling over their heads.
"I'm a big girl," she said.