Author's note: Enjoy!
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the canon, world, and characters portrayed below and you can tell I'm not J.K. Rowling because #transrights
Hogwarts: Assignment 6, Healer Studies,Task #3: Lycanthropy: Write a story set on the full moon (for a majority of the story).
Content Warnings: NA
An Especially Long Time
He was stumbling back from the bathroom, mostly asleep, when he made out her silhouette in the dark.
"Mum?" he asked.
The tip of her wand lit up in the dark with those lightning-quick reflexes that sometimes didn't turn off properly when she came home from work—especially when there were high-profile cases in the paper, as there had been all summer. But she relaxed as soon as she realized it was him, and sunk back into the couch cushions.
"Hey baby," she said, offering him a smile. She flicked her wand to turn on the lamp, shedding some proper light on the room. Her hair was buzzed down to her scalp, bubblegum pink as it defaulted to, and she had a yellow blanket wrapped around her. "You alright?"
"Yeah," he said, rubbing at his eyes as they adjusted to the light. "You? Why are you up?"
"Nothing much," she said. That was when Teddy realized that the curtains were drawn open so she could see the sky—and the full moon hanging amongst the stars. The window was cracked open in hope of catching any kind of summer breeze.
"You up because of the moon?" Teddy asked. As he said it, he knew that didn't make much sense. Aurors had an uncanny ability to sleep anywhere for any amount of time because of their work—he'd seen Kingsley take a five minute nap in between the courses of a meal, once.
"Not necessarily," Mum said noncommittally, which wasn't like her and so Teddy kept thinking about it. That's when he filled in the gaps.
"But you stay up on full moons when Dad doesn't have access to Wolfsbane because he's not at Hogwarts you do," Teddy said. How hadn't he noticed before? Three months a year during summer break, Dad had to go back to his old spot to transform away from anybody else and he came back home so exhausted, so messy, and sometimes so hurt that Teddy couldn't believe he used to do that every month. That's what it had been like when he and Mum had first met.
"Nights are an especially long time to spend alone," Mum shrugged. "Besides, I always take the next day off so it doesn't matter much."
Teddy nodded. He hadn't realized that the moon took a toll on his Mum, too. That felt somewhat more manageable, though.
"I'll make us tea," he said.
"What?" Mum said. "No, Teddy, go back to bed baby…"
"You said it yourself," Teddy said. "Nights are an especially long time to spend alone and besides, I'm on summer holiday so it doesn't matter much."
Mum smiled at him and then shook her head.
"What?" Teddy asked.
"Nothing," Mum said. "You're just your father's son through and through aren't you?"
"I could be hairier," Teddy shrugged—which made Mum laugh.
"We'll make sure to tell him that one in the morning," she said. "Maybe when he's had a bite to eat and a few hours of sleep."
WC: 497