DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these characters. If I did, I'd be called J.K.Rowling, and I'd be a hell of a lot richer.

Severus awoke with a start from the sleep caused by long, exhausting sex. "Shit!" he exclaimed, dropping Harry from his arms. The younger man made a grumbling noise and buried his face in his pillow. "I won't be long," he told his sleeping husband, before shaking his head with the realisation that he was talking to himself. Silently, he slid out from under the duvet and slipped out of the room, closing the door with a click.

He hurried down the stairs to the room he had converted into a Potions Lab for when he was not at Hogwarts. Idiotically, he had become too caught up in his younger lover to remember the date: the full moon. He had left the Wolfsbane Potion on hold, and without it Grimmauld Place's resident werewolf would be a danger to all the others.

The lack of noise from the basement beneath his feet as he entered the Lab, he knew that the moon had not risen yet, but it could only be a short while until it did.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he pulled a small flower of aconite, or Wolfsbane, from a glass bottle that kept it preserved, living and safe. He wanted to hurry up, but he knew that if he cut too much, the lycanthrope would be poisoned, not enough and he would be dangerous. With practiced hands, he started work.

Down beneath Severus' feet, Sirius had his lover's thin form in his arms. Sometimes, he hated how frail Remus was. To be honest, he hadn't realised it as much when he had still been able to see. When he ran a warming hand down Remus' bare body, he felt a xylophone of ribs, the curve where his waist was too small, and his jutting out hip bone. Maybe it was his more powerful senses exaggerating things, but he resolved to take better care of his lover, and make him put on some much needed weight. He knew though, that is was not Remus' fault, but the wolf that ravaged his strength.

"Where is he?" muttered Remus in his light, pleasant tenor, but he had an impatient, fearful not in his voice. "If he doesn't hurry… you should leave."

"I'm not going to leave you," Sirius soothed, rubbing Remus' arms. Slightly raised bumps on Remus' flesh told Sirius that he had goose bumps. "I know what the wolf does to you when you're alone, and you are not being left to go down that path again."

Remus merely shivered, "There's only about five minutes left. You need to shut us in, just in case."

"There are still five minutes."

"Sirius, please, I can't bear to hurt anyone, please," Remus' arms wrapped around Sirius' neck as the werewolf spoke into his lover's neck. The hot breath, and a cold tear splashing on his shoulder made Sirius sigh, and he broke away.

"Alright my love," he murmured, and left the floor. Then, carefully, he padded across the cold floor, feeling each smoothed stone under his feet.

He felt his way up the stairs, and was part way up when he heard Remus behind him gasp, "Oh thank Merlin."

"Your godson's fault," the smooth, forever smug voice of Severus floated down from above.

"About time. And don't blame Harry," Sirius said, as he trotted up the last couple of steps, and held out a hand. A metal goblet was placed in his hand, and he curtly nodded his thanks. "Shut us in, don't go till we knock." Every full moon, just in case, Remus insisted on being locked in to protect his house mates, those he regarded as family. One member of his 'family' would wait for him outside the trap door, waiting. Then Sirius would knock on the trap door twice to be let out, or once to tell the watcher to leave if Remus was unsafe.

"Sirius, hurry," insisted Remus, and his voice shook. Above, the trap door slammed shut, and there was the heavy thud of dead bolts falling into place. As fast as he could, Sirius trotted back down lover and held out the goblet for Remus to take. Then, listening to Remus' slightly shuddering breathing to position him, Sirius slipped behind his lover and slid one leg on either side of him. After gulping down the Wolfsbane, by the sound of it, Remus leant against him, trembling violently. Gently, Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus' shivering body. "It's rising," the werewolf stuttered, nervously. Every month, Sirius knew that the fear of what he could do would grow inside of the lycanthropic. Sirius held him tighter.

"It'll be OK, I'm here," Sirius murmured, "You're fine, you're safe, you're…"

He found the rest of his words becoming drowned out by a scream from Remus, which made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end. The first was always the worst, as the pain assailed his lover from every direction. He could feel Remus' mouth lengthening, and start to dig into his neck. Canines started to emerge, and Sirius was forced to move Remus' mouth away in case he snapped. Then, he felt Remus' hands begin to curl stiffly, claws forcing their way through. Hastily, Sirius slipped his hands through his lovers to prevent the claws digging into the sensitive skin of Remus' palms.

After a few moments of odd sensations, hearing groans, bones snapping, muscles shifting and twisting against him, he found a mass of heavy, furry, panting wolf in his grasp. He could hear whimpers from the werewolf, and gently ran his hands through the long fur, checking for any injuries, but found none. It was just 'normal' transformation pains. "Are you alright, Moony?" Sirius asked, and Remus' wolf head nodded against his elbow. It was already clear that Remus was safe: if he hadn't been, Sirius would have been forced to transform into Padfoot to defend himself.

Sirius remained combing through Remus' fur for a while comfortingly, until the werewolf managed to get to his feet, heaving a lupine sigh. Smiling sadly, but with no pain, Sirius transformed into his dog form, and was led up the stairs by his lover, who gave him gentle nudges in the right direction. Everything was so much clearer as a dog, even without sight. The hearing enabled him to pinpoint things better than before, and the smells, oh the smells.

It was almost like being able to see: he could smell everything. As he walked up the stairs, there was the cold, dull smell of stone, and he could smell Remus. There was the scent of wolf, intermingled with Remus' innate aroma, a sort of homely smell of dusty books, but mixed with… everything Remus. But there was also the tang of pain and fear, that the werewolf was trying to disguise, the fear of himself. With his snout, Sirius batted against the trap door, and it was duly opened by Severus.

"Come on out then mutts," Severus said. "I have a bed that's getting rapidly cooler."

Sirius wanted to snap at the man, but knew Remus would get annoyed with him, and merely settled for a growl, before trotting off to their bedroom. Severus followed, rollowing his eyes