**Written for the Weasleys Wizard Wheezes Competition: Ton-Tongue Toffees, the Secret Challenge, the Endless Possibility Challenge: 10 Prompts, Shackles, the Party Challenge: Pictionary and the Weasley-Potter-Prewett Challenge: Bill Weasley**
The Secret
Lavender sometimes felt as though her life was controlled by something that she couldn't control, of course, this was entirely true; the lunar cycle was far beyond the realm of her power. During her childhood, Lavender loved looking at the moon. She imagined all the possibilities, from simply walking on it to the potential existence of life. Her astronomy classes at Hogwarts had been filled with daydreaming and excitement at the fact that there were many moons which she hadn't known about before.
Now however, she detested the moon; it dictated both her thoughts and her actions. Every month she frequented the underground, sound-proofed rooms that Saint Mungo's offered praying that no one saw her as she entered the hospital. She hated having to lie to everyone she knew, she told them wild stories so they wouldn't suspect where she had gone.
Every month had the same routine: take the Wolfsbane Potion, remove all clothing, tie the shackle around her ankle (just in case), weep, wait for the transformation to take over her body. It was always the same, it came slowly at first: shudders every few minutes, then came the constant shaking followed soon by the sprouts of fur. Soon a fully fledged wolf was curled in the corner of the cell, whimpering slightly.