Oh, new chapter, it's been a long time since one of these appeared. I'd give an excuse, but I'm too tired. Actually, I am going to give one... I've been writing another story! Check it out if you feel like it... *Shameless Self Plug*
Anyway, back to the story, here is the next chapter, and I hope you like it. Please review...
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I'd been a bit richer if I was. Plus, despite being British, I live on the wrong continent to be J.K. Rowling...
The rest of the day passed smoothly. The day after, and the one after that passed in much the same fashion. However, the following day was the full moon, and everyone was on edge. Ron, Seamus and Dean were partly mad because they couldn't show that they knew, and they wanted to be there for Remus, the same as they were used to in their own time. Sirius, James and Peter were anxious about taking Harry with them, and bristling with the excitement they got whenever they were planning to break school rules. Harry was anxious for his mate, he didn't want to see Remus in pain, and hated seeing the look in the boys eyes. Remus was a mess. He had conflicting emotions all over the place. He knew Harry could look after himself, but didn't want to hurt him, and he didn't know what the wolf would do to the raven haired boy once he recognised him as his mate. Then there was the fact the wolf was dormant and stirring in his mind, which only amplified his emotions further.
After they sat through two lessons with Remus spacing out, and having various emotions pass over his face at very rapid pace, the others were starting to get a headache, just from watching.
"Come on, Rem, lets go upstairs," Harry whispered softly in his ear, as they were walking out of charms.
Remus just nodded, and weakly followed Harry up to the 'den'. As soon as they were inside, Harry flung his arms around his boyfriend, pulling his close, wishing to make it better, but knowing he couldn't. At this gesture, Remus broke down, tears streaming down his face and into Harry's shoulder. "Hey, hey, come on," Harry muttered into his ear, rocking him gently.
"S…sorry," Remus stammered, "I'm such a mess, I… I can't control my emotions."
"It's ok, I know. Just breathe in deeply, and try to stop the tears, eh?" Harry smiled weakly, and kissed the tears off Remus's face. Once Remus managed a weak smile, the two sat down on the sofa, curled up together.
"I'm so worried about tonight, I just don't want to hurt you, and I don't know what the wolf is going to do. It could do anything, and you will finally see me for what I really am – an evil monster." Remus gushed the words so fast Harry had to strain his ears just to understand what he was saying.
"You are not an evil monster, Remus Lupin. Never say that." Harry practically shouted, before remembering sensitive werewolf hearing, and cringed when Remus winced. "You are the most incredible, strong, intelligent, beautiful person I have ever met. I love you, Rem. So much. Even if you can't love yourself, you have to remember that I always will." By the end, he was almost whispering, blushing red, and smiling awkwardly.
"I… I love you too. And, I know I'm not an evil monster, I mean the human part knows that, just the werewolf, he doesn't…" Remus muttered in Harry's ear, embracing the taller boy in his arms.
"It's ok, Rem. One day, they will invent something to help this. To stop all the pain. I'd try myself if I knew the first thing about creating potions. Unfortunately, I don't." Remus just raised his eyes to meet Harry's, and they were both shocked by the amount of love and dedication reflected in the others face. They just stood there, happy in each other's arms until the bell rang, and they had to run to class.
The rest of the day passed with everyone on edge, Sirius spent most of the day telling everyone to 'Stop the awkward silences', before the others glared at him. By the time evening came, Remus was almost glad when Madame Pomfrey came to collect him and took him down to the shrieking shack – almost. Seamus, Ron and Dean pretended to be oblivious to all going on around them, and James, Sirius, Peter and Harry were practically jumping with nerves.
The boys paced up and down for the next twenty minutes, until they decided it was time, and snuck outside, Peter in his animagus form and the other three under the cloak. When they arrived at the whomping willow, Peter ran and hit the large knot, and the other three ran quickly inside the large passageway, which lead to their least favourite building. When they reached the trapdoor, James pushed it open, and the four climbed up into the room. Harry's eyes widened, and he bit heavily down on his tongue when he saw Remus curled up on the bed, covered by some ratty blankets.
He rushed over to the bed, and sat on the edge, just looking at him, telling him with his eyes it would be ok. Harry knew Remus in this time wasn't used to being touched as he was about to change, and he kept a respectful distance. The other three sat in the corner, waiting and dreading the moon rising.
Eventually, light started to reflect through the window, and Remus jolted suddenly. The other four quickly changed into their animagus forms, knowing they were safe that way. Harry, or rather, the panther, watched as Remus yelled and screamed in pain, tears streaming down his scarred face. His sensitive hearing picked up the sounds of Remus's bones cracking, and breaking as they re-molded themselves into a different shape. Harry wanted to close his eyes and run, to try and block out the sounds and sights forever, but he couldn't he had to be there.
Soon, the cracking stopped, and Remus was replaced by a large grey wolf on the bed. He raised his golden eyes to stare at the others, but quickly recognised Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail as his usual pack. However, there was a large, jet-black panther in the corner of the room, who was something new. Not only had the wolf not seen him before, there was something different about the way he smelt. His very existence was different.
Cautiously, the wolf padded over to where the panther stood. He sniffed at his muzzle, and then around him, pacing. The panther tensed up, but didn't move. When the wolf faced the panther, golden eyes staring at him, he carefully ducked his head in submission, and the wolf seemed satisfied by this.
As it was Harry's first time with the wolf, the boys had decided that they weren't going to leave the shrieking shack, just in case anything went wrong, it would be easier to deal with in the smaller location. The night was spent with the panther being cautious around the wolf, and the five animals playing enthusiastically with each other.
The next day, when Remus awoke, his stretched his legs cautiously, cringing when the bones cracked loudly. He looked around him, hoping there hadn't been too much havoc caused.
Much to his surprise, the other four were just sitting in the corner, whispering, clearly trying not to wake him. Remus's werewold hearing could easily pcik up what they were saying, "It was weird," Sirius said, "He just prowled around you, and then accepted you as easily as anything."
"Not that we wanted you to get mauled or anything, but the panther is almost the same size as the wolf, I just expected him to put up more of a fight," James said.
"Why would he put up a fight when I submitted to him as soon as he finished looking at me? There would be no need," Harry said, "Remember, I've hung out with a werewolf before, I know how hierarchy works."
"I think Harry's right, if Moony didn't feel threatened by the panther, why would he hurt him?" Peter added.
"I take it I didn't kill anyone last night?" Remus said, voice croaky.
"Rem," Harry's face lit up as soon as he heard the boys voice.
"We need to give Harry a nickname, Moony," Sirius said, "What is a good panther name?"
"What about Jet?" Peter suggested, "His fur, and actually his hair, is jet black…"
"That's pretty good, what about bào? It means panther in Chinese…" James said.
"How do you know that?" Remus asked, surprised on his face.
"I have no idea. A random fact, I guess…"
"It kind of sounds like Bowie. David Bowie for the win!" Sirius laughed.
"Or 'bowey, like a rainbow," James added, grinning.
"Please, I'm not that gay," Harry rolled his eyes. A snort came from someone, but it was difficult to work out who. "If we go with bào, then you two," he nodded to James and Sirius, "Are going to keep calling me rainbow… Can we go with Jet?"
"I like it," Remus said, voice still hoarse.
"I prefer rainbow…" Sirius muttered.
"Anyway, enough talk about me, how are you feeling, Rem?" Harry asked softly, walking over to the bed.
"Better than normal," he said, grinning at the boy he was now sure was his mate. That was the only logical explanation for how the wolf had behaved. "No new scars this time."
"There are nothing wrong with your scars. They're beautiful." Harry muttered, so only Remus could hear.
Remus ducked his head, embarrassed. "How can you think that?" he muttered so low, Harry had to strain his ears to hear.
"Remus, the second I saw you, I thought you were beautiful. The most beautiful guy I'd ever seen. As I got to know you, I realised you were just as beautiful inside as you were out. Yes, you have a few scars, but they don't mar your appearance, especially not on the inside. No one is perfect, and it's the imperfections that make us beautiful. Honest." Remus had to swallow hard to prevent tears streaming down his face. He had found someone who thought him beautiful no matter what. He rested his forehead on Harry's shoulder, nuzzling his nose against his neck.
Once he regained his composure, Remus whispered in Harry's ear, "Once I find a good place, I'm taking you out to dinner, on a date. And I'll try to make it as perfect as you are."
Harry grinned, eyes lighting up. However, their moment was soon destroyed by Sirius sucombing to a coughing fit. "He was actually trying to keep it in," James laughed as his friend throatily coughed.
"Hope you're not coming down with anything, Padfoot," Peter said.
"I'll be fine," Sirius said, finally finishing coughing.
"Come on guys, we need to go," James said, "Madame Pomfrey will be here before long."
"Bye, Rem," Harry said, kissing his boyfriend lightly on the nose.
"See you later, guys," Remus called out to all of them.
The four walked up to the castle in relative silence, all lost in their own thoughts. That day passed smoothly, with the four boys trying desperately hard not to fall asleep in class. Luckily, Dean was taking notes for them, whilst Seamus and Ron laughed at their heavy eyes and excessive yawns.
The next day passed just as smoothly as the one before, with Remus re-joining them in class, and the next week followed in much the same fashion. However, by this time, everyone was starting to get very suspicious of Ron and Sirius, or rather, the lack of Ron and Sirius.
"Hey, Sirius," James panted, running to catch up with his friend in the corridor.
"Hey, Jim," Sirius smiled at his best friend.
"How many times do I eed to tell you not to call me that?"
"More than you already have…"
"Well, don't call me that! Anyway, to fight over my name isn't why I just ran the length of about six corridors to catch up with you. I wanted to ask, what is going on with you and Ron?" James asked.
"Nothing," Sirius looked crest-fallen.
"What do you mean 'nothing'?"
"Just that, absolutely bloody nothing! Basically, he seems to know a lot about my past as a bit of a player, and doesn't think he can trust me to be loyal. So, I have to prove myself to him, apparently."
"How exactly can you prove yourself?"
"Basically, I'm not allowed to date anyone for a month. I'm only allowed to kiss him on the cheek for this entire month. I'm dying here, James, and it's only been a week and a half!"
"You can't deny, the boy has some serious style!" James was trying not to laugh.
"No, only I have Sirius style. That isn't even the worst part. Ron, is allowed to tease me as much as he wants, no restrictions. I'm not kidding, it's actually painful at times." Sirius was almost moaning by now.
"Well, why don't you take him on a date then? That's not outside the rules, right?" James asked, trying to help his friend.
"No, that's alright, as long as we don't do anything. But, Remus and Harry are going on a date this weekend, and I don't want to end up in the same place as them, to ruin their little romantic time."
"Well, you told them where to go, can't you just go somewhere else?"
"James, it's two guys on a date. That is the only place I've ever been, other than the Three Broomsticks, which hasn't thrown the gay couiple out."
"Well, go to the Three Broomsticks then!"
"You would serious take a date to the Three Broomsticks? Where is your sense of romance? It's the least romantic place on earth!"
"No, it isn't, there are plenty of other places far less romantic."
"James, it's the point I'm trying to make that counts. I am not taking a date to the Three Broomsticks. Especially not one who means so much," Sirius blushed on the last line.
"You're going soft, Padfoot," James grinned.
"I've always been like this, you've just never realised."
"Well, that's a scary thought if ever I heard one." James snorted. "Come on, lets go up to the tower, if Ron gets to bad, give me a signal and I'll try top distract him for a while."
"Thanks, Jim," Sirius laughed.
"Don't call me Jim!" James cried, also laughing, and chased his friend the entire way to the tower.