I woke up to the sound of shuffling around. People were moving about and it was way too loud for my sensitive ears. I tried to sit up, to tell them to be quiet but I found that even the slightest movement sent a wave of pain through my bruised and pattered body. I groaned loudly and someone rushed over to my side, placing a blanket over my body.
"You did it Mia. I'm going to pick you up and carry you to the infirmiry. Is that okay?" Asked a soft whispered voice that sounded like Sirius.
"Padfoot, is that you?" I croaked out as I felt someone place their hands around my back and under my knees. They lifted me up into their arms and I cried out in pain as I rested my head on their shoulder.
"Sorry about that. Couldn't be helped." Sirius said as he held me close to him. I inhaled his scent, leather and cigarettes and smiled faintly as I drifted out of consciousness.
I woke again, this time more comfortable that the last. I felt crisp sheets covering my body and bandages covering various parts of my body. I was more wary this time when I tried to move, knowing it was going to be painful. I opened my eyes first, squinting as my irises were bombarded with sunlight. I wiggled a bit as I sat up wanting to see my surroundings instead of the arched roof of the hospital wing. At least I knew where I was this time. Before I could even look around to see who else was here, Poppy came into my line of sight.
Seeing that I was up and awake she bustled over to me, a container full of potions under her arm and a wand in her hand.
"My dear girl, your awake." She said affectionately as she set the box down on the night stand next to my bed. She caressed my cheek softly as she gazed at me and I blushed under her stare. She was such a kind woman and I couldn't help but smile brightly at her motherly ways.
"I need you to take a couple of potions." She said and then listed them of as she handed them to me, making sure I took each one before moving on to the next. She then ran some scans and tests with her wand, finding nothing wrong she cleared me.
"Well, your better off than Remus. He was quite the sight when he came in this morning. You gave him a run for his money dear. I'm just glad that you didn't let him hurt you." She said with a smirk.
"IS he okay?" I asked and my voice was croaky still, and a little horse as if I had been screaming all night.
"He's fine dear. You just gave him a good couple of nips and scratches. He gave you some too but I think he's got more. I'm afraid that they will scar though." She said and I smiled softly at her sad look.
"Don't worry about it Poppy. It just adds to the collection. I don't really mind." I said and she smiled.
"Well, your clothes are on the chair there. I see no reason why you can't go back to your dorm right away. You will be a little sore today and tomorrow but with your abilities, most of your wounds will be healed by dinner time. Remus should be out in a little while as well. You can wait for him if you wish." She said and then drew the curtains around my bed to give me privacy to change from the hospital gown I currently wore. I got out of bed and dressed in my jeans and shirt from yesterday, not caring for my tie or jumper.
I was far too warm for it, as side effect of the transformation that would abait in a day or two. I assessed my injuries as I dressed, noticing that I had a rather nasty looking bit on my hip and a couple of claw marks on my shoulder but apart from that nothing else major. Just some little scratches and nicks that will be hardly noticeable when they healed properly. At the moment they were a nastly red purple colour but closed up and healing before my eyes. I smiled slightly at that. One of few benifits of the condition was the fast healing. It was the least we deserved.
I made my way over to the bed that Remus occupied and saw that we was awake as well. I smiled at him when he saw me and took a seat on he end of his bed, crossing my legs under me as I looked him over. He had bandages covering his arm and leg and had claw marks over his chest, as well as three claw marks going diagonally down his face. Was I the one to cause those marks? If it was me then why didn't Remus know that I had been in the past with him when we were in the future? Surely he would have remembered me. I really needed to do some research about time travel in the library.
"I'm sorry." I said and he laughed at the a shamed look on my face.
"Mia you have nothing to be sorry for. This was the least painful and most entertaining full moon I've ever had." He said and I raised an eyebrow at his amusement. I tried to think back to the previous night but all I could remember was the blinding pain and then nothing until I woke up to Sirius. My brow furrowed in an annoyed expression as I realised that I didn't remember any of it.
"I don't remember anything." I said and he grabbed my hand, squeezing it sympathetically.
"You wouldn't. The first couple of times, the pain wins out. But after a while, you'll get glimpses of the wolfs mind, seeing through her eyes and such. After a while, you'll be able to look through the wolf's eyes while she's in control but you won't be able to influence her decisions or control her unfortunately." He said and I nodded along.
"Good, I guess." I said and then Poppy came over, gave Remus the same potions she gave me but without the explanations. You could tell that Poppy was fond of Remus as well, by the way she smoothed his hair back out of his face or patted him on the cheek before doing her scans. He was good to go as well and Poppy seemed surprised that he was practically back to full strength straight away.
"It's never been this fast before." She said as she studied him.
"It's because I've never been in the company of another wolf before. Mia helps with the transformation. It was less painful and I feel less exhausted too. I wonder if that's why most wolves choose to live with packs? Because they make them stronger?" Remus mused and Poppy's eyes widened in understanding as she looked at me and then back to Remus.
"That's probably it dear. You should go down to the kitchens and get something to eat before going back up to the common rooms. Lunch is already over."
And with that dismissal, she left us alone.
"You should put on some clothes." I said after a moment of silence.
"Yes I should." He said and then got up. He closed the curtains around us and I was surprised that he didn't ask me to leave. But then again, it's not like I hadn't seen it all before during sex and again when we were transforming last night. I tilted my head to the side, studying him as he removed his hospital gown.
He was starkers underneath and I looked him over. I hadn't really looked at him in great detail with our hurried coupling and then last night I was more focused on the pain and fear rather than our exposed selves. He was incredibly handsome, with his sandy blonde hair falling in his face and broad shoulders, covered in muscle and scars. I saw the scars that i knew I gave him in the curve of his back where it met his ass. And what a nice arse it was, I thought as he leant over to pull his pants up his legs. As he covered himself my eyes drifted back to the scars. MINE. The wolf growled inside my mind and it made me jump in surprise and shock. 'He's mine.' She growled to me and I agreed hold heartedly. 'Ours.' I agreed and she growled in approval.
"I'm sorry about the scars Remus." I started but the wolf howled inside me head.
'They are a mark from his mate. You need not appologise human. He understands.' She said and I nodded to myself. If we were going to get along, I had to embrace her not argue with her. She growled in approval at that thought.
'I like how you think.' She said.
"No worries Mia. My wolf likes the new addition for some reason." He said with a smirk at me as he pulled his shirt over his head. I sighed as his skin was covered and my wolf whined in annoyance. He grabbed his jumper and tossed it over his shoulder.
"I'm fucking hungry. Lets go get something to eat, yeah?" He said and I nodded. I jumped off the bed and followed him out of the hospital wing and let him lead me to the kitchens. We walked in silence and I used this time to talk to my wolf.
"I am sorry that the potion cut off your voice. I didn't know it would do that." I told her and she huffed in annoyance.
"It left me weak, left us weak. Do not take it when we go back to our time. We can be stronger together if we do not take it." She said.
"How do you mean?" I asked.
"We are a magical creature. I will strengthen your magic just as you will become more like a wolf. Your personality will change to incorporate me until we become one. But it will take time." She said.
"Good to know. I think it will be easier to do that than have multiple personalities." I said.
"Tell that to our wolf next to us. He fights with himself. It is why he was so sickly and unhappy in the future. But the wolf convinced him that if they accepted each other they would be able to help more in the war. That is why he has changed since. He is who he is meant to be. But the young one here will not learn his lesson for a long time." She said with a sigh, as if were taxing to think about. I smirked at that.
"Take it easy on him, he's been through a lot. His parents drilled it into him that what he is, is a bad thing. Until he accepts that, he wont be able accept himself." I said.
"You make good points human." She said.
"You'll have to get used to that I'm afraid. I do it quite often." I said dryly. She snorted in amusement.
"You forget that we are the same person. What you do, I do. I am only as smart as you are, only as strong as you want me to be." She said wisely.
"Hermione?" Remus said, waving a hand in front of my face to get my attention. I smiled at him, pulling myself away frommy conversation with my wolf.
"Sorry, what were you saying?" I asked.
"What do you want to eat?" He said, amusement obvious in his voice. I blinked and loked around to see that we were already in the kitchen and a couple of house elves were looking up at us with wide eyes and happy smiles.
"I'll have whatever Remus is having. Thank you." I said politely to them and they nodded and disapeared to make us some food.
"Of in daydream land were you?" Remus asked as we took a seat at on of the tables.
"I was talking to my wolf." I said simply and he raised an eyebrow at me.
"Do you ind my asking what you were talking about?" He asked.
"Oh, this and that. Nothing too important. She just wanted to get a couple of things straight." I said and he looked slightly concerned.
"Don't let her bully you. Moony always tries to coherce me into a miriad of mischeivous and devious things." He said and I laughed.
"Did you ever think of maybe letting go and actually doing them, just because you can?" I asked and he tilted his head to the side as he thought about what I said.
"No. I don't like to feed the wolf, so to say. It's better if I resist him. It's better that way." He said seriously.
"Why?" I asked simply. His face screwed up in confusion.
"I- I.." He couldn't form the words to respond and I knew I had him.
"My wolf seems to think that we are the same person, she is just a baser instinct given a voice by our condition. Why not adjust your personality so that you both get along instead of having to fight it all the time. It's certainly what I'm going to do." I said and my wolf growled in agreement. Remus looked stumped as he stared at me. He had obviously never considered doing that before. I knew that he wouldn't do it, not until the second war years from now, but at least I had planted the idea in his head.
He was saved from having to respond as the house elves brought out our food. We ate in silence as Remus thought about what I had said. By the time we left I was getting agitated. He had no idea how to talk to me now and I was annoyed at him for thinking that just because we had different oppinions on how to handle our conditions that meant we couldn't hold a decent conversation about something else. We walked out of the kitchen and in te direction of the common room and after ten minutes of silence I grabbed his arma nd spun him around to face me. He was startled but curious.
"Look Remus. I had no right to tell you now to handle this. You've been at this longer than me and if your way works then it works." I said and he smiled at me. I sighed in relief. I didn't want to loose him over this, even though I felt slightly weird about thinking he was mine when in the future, he was unaware of out attachment.
"It's fine Mia. I've never acutally thought about it that way. It's given me something to think about is all." He said.
"Are we okay?" I asked and he nodded, taking hold of my hand and trailing small circles into my skin with the pad of his thumb.
"Mia, about last week. I just wanted to make sure you were oka y with what we did." He said carefully and I frowned in confusion. What did we do?
'You fucked.' My wolf supplied helpfully and I tried not to laugh at her bluntness.
"Is your wolf as blunt as mine is?" I asked idly as we continued walking, even though Remu was waiting for my reply to his question.
"He is indeed. He's also very crass and indecent. Some of the things he's said could rival Sirius." He said softly as he looked at me searchingly.
"Are you trying to avoid the subject?" He asked after a few minutes of my thinking. I was thinking about last weekend. I had had sex with him and i wasn't sure if I was okay about it now that I actually thought in depth about what i had done.
I had had sex with Remus in the future whilst drunk. I had felt so conflicted about it. He was indecently older than me and at the time, he was going to be my teacher in a week or so. Just because I was nineteen, didn't mean he had had the right to hit on me, even if he was completely smashed. And then there was the impulsive sex I'd had with the younger Remus. I wasn't sure what to think at all. It was going to be awkward when I returned to the future.
They were different men and I wasn't sure which one I liked better, but technically they were the same man so it wasn't so bad. But I think I'm in danger of falling in love with the younger Remus and then were would that leave us. He would be alone for years and Ii would be going back to a man that was completely different. I didn't want to get my heart broken when the older Remus rejected me. What if I changed the past enough that I didn't even sleep with him in the future? It was all so complicated.
"It was sex Remus. I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't okay with it." I said and he sighed in annoyance.
"That's not what I mean't and you know it. Where do you want this to go? Do you want it to be sex and nothing else? Or are you interested in something more?" He asked and he looked vulnerable all of a sudden.
"What do you want?" I asked him instead, not wanting to be the one who made the decision.
"I want all of you. I want to take you out on dates, spend time with you, hold your hand, kiss you, fuck you. Everything." He whispered as he looked down at our hands. I couldn't help but smile at his confession. I liked him immensely and despite my confusion at the situation, I couldn't say no to him even if I tried to. I had the same problem in the future too, even before I was attracted to him.
"Hey love birds. What cha doin?" A voice said that had us both fly away from each other and look to the offening person. It was James. He had a smug look on his face as he observed us and my anger welled up inside of me.
'He interrupted us with out mate. We should kill him." my wolf suggested and I rolled my eyes at her. Just because we're angry at him doesn't mean we have to resort to such drastic measures. He is our friend after all, not to mention our best friends father. If we were to kill him that would mean no Harry in the future. The wolf huffed in annoyance but agreed to my logic.
"James." Remus growled out as he took as step in front of me as if to protect me from an attack. This caused James to raise an eyebrow in curiousity.
"Am I intruding on a moment?" He asked catiously. I went to answer but Remus bet me to it.
"You are. Now if you'd kindly fuck off, I'd be most grateful." Remus snarled at his friend and I put a hand on his shoulder, hoping it would lend him some of my restraint.
"I just wanted to make sure you were all right. You were pretty banged up after last night. I was actually on my way to the hospital win to see you, but it looks like you're up and running again." He said and Remus's tense shoulders slumped as he calmed down.
"Sorry Prongs. I'm just on edge. Stilll recovering, you know?" Remus said and James nodded in understanding.
"Sure, no problem buddy. I'll see you in the common room later, yeah?" And then James retreated from sight.
"Well that was interesting." I said after a couple of moments silence.
"I'm sorry Mia. You're mine and I'm tired and unfocused. He caught me off guard and Moony reacted." He said, making excuses for his actions. I sighed.
"Remus, it was a natural reaction. I felt the same way but I just told her that it wasn't going to do anyone any good if we killed him for interupting us. Just imagine what we would have to deal with if we did? Lily and Sirius would go into a rage and then were would we be?" I said and he smirked. I smiled brightly at him as I took his hand in mine once more.
"I like you too." I said and his face lit up with a smile that matched mine. After that little confession, we both felt better. We went up to the Gryffindor common room, kissed briefly and then parted ways to get some much needed sleep.