Hope was already up when they walked in. She'd covered the kitchen table in bandages, a bottle of dittany set next to Muggle antiseptics The Lupins had this down to a system, apparently. It made sense. After all, they'd looked after Remus for far longer than Madam Pomfrey had. "Oh Remmy, come here," Hope frowned, depositing him in a chair while Lyall went to make a cup of coffee. "You know how this goes. What's that? Give me your left arm. That one looks bad."

The nasty gash on his left arm was best left to magic. "Here," Hazel offered, taking out her wand. She gently took his hand, turning his arm over so she could reach the wound. "Vulnera Sanentur… Vulnera Sanentur…" She looked up at Lyall, who had just walked in. "It's an easy enough spell, but it has to be repeated twice."

Lyall nodded, setting his coffee mug down and drawing his own wand. "Let me. I should certainly learn it. Why don't you bring Remus some clean clothes, then go change and grab something to eat? Hope and I will take care of him from here."

"Okay." She didn't want to go, but Hope and Lyall had swarmed their son, starting to cover him in stinging dittany and cleaning up some of the larger wounds. With one last look at Remus, who gave her a bloody and lopsided smile, she went upstairs. She'd be able to talk to him later.

She moved automatically, bringing down the softest pair of pajamas she could find before going to shower and change out of her own clothes. When she looked in the mirror, it finally hit her how much the monthly transformations must take out of him. She'd seen the results before, the tired boy biting his tongue so he wouldn't snap at his friends, desperately trying to stay awake in class and be careful to not reopen his wounds. He had to be even more exhausted than she was, and she was ready to fall asleep on her feet in the shower.

By the time she made it back to the kitchen, Remus, Hope, and Lyall were eating breakfast. Remus, now largely clean and bandaged up thanks to his doting parents and a bit of magic, smiled at her again through mouthfuls of bacon. "Everything's in the kitchen," Hope yawned. "Help yourself. There's plenty of coffee too."

Hazel returned a moment later, taking the seat next to Remus. She squeezed his hand under the table, starting to eat and chat with his mum, who was a lot more awake than the others despite how tired she seemed. When they were done, Lyall told her to help Remus upstairs and into bed. "I'll take care of the dishes, don't worry," Hope chimed in as Hazel let Remus put an arm around her for support. They had just reached the stairs when she called after them. "Leave your door open, young man."

"Mum, I'm exhausted," Remus called back. "Do you really think -"

"Leave the door open." Remus and Hazel exchanged a look as they made their way upstairs. With any luck, Hope and Lyall would never find out what they'd gotten into while they were out shopping.

Hazel let him lay down first, drawing the curtains before she climbed into bed next to him. She started to lazily run her hand through his hair, Remus closing his eyes with a sigh. This was the first time they'd been alone together, or actually been able to talk, since the day before. Both of them wanted to say something, but neither knew where to start. It was Hazel who spoke first, prompted by the soft sniffle Remus let slip as he curled up beside her. "What's wrong, Remmy?"

"I don't know. Everything." His voice broke as he confessed, "I'm tired and everything hurts. It hurts so much I can hardly bear it sometimes. It hurts to move, it hurts to breathe, it just hurts. Do you... can you imagine how much it hurts to have your bones stretch? And to inevitably hurt yourself like I do? And I'm always behind in class, or I at least feel like I am because I have to sleep so much. I'm constantly afraid you're going to leave - I know you're not, but I can't help it. You're... you're perfect. You could do so much better. Go out with the Hufflepuff Seeker, or the Head Boy, or... or hell, go out with Snape. Even Snape would be better than something like me, and nobody likes him. Almost nobody. There's a reason the Ministry's always liked killing werewolves."

"You're not like that. Not like Greyback," she clarified, still stroking his hair. "You don't attack people on purpose. You - you actively try to stay away from people when you transform. You're my big, strong, handsome wolf. As for class, I'll make sure you're not behind. I'm sure you did brilliantly on your O.W.L.s. And as for being tired and everything hurting, let's just stay here. Even if you can't sleep right away, you don't have to be alone. I can't fix it, but I can keep you company."

"So you're not afraid of me?" There it was, the deep-seated fear that inched into their lives all of the time. "Even after everything you've seen, you're not afraid of me?"

"Rem, how could I ever be afraid of you? There's nothing wrong with you. You're not a monster. You're too cute to be a monster. Besides, I love you." She said it casually, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"You… you what?" he stammered, not entirely sure if she'd actually said it or if his exhaustion-addled brain had made it up. Am I even awake right now?

"I love you," she whispered, leaning in to kiss him.

Any delusion that he wasn't going to cry was shattered as boiling tears started to drip down his cheeks. "I… I've had nightmares for the last week that you were going to see me - what I can be - and scream and run, or that you'd stay for the night... because of the enchantments... but you'd be gone before I woke up in the morning, or…"

"I love you too much to do that, Rem," she promised. "I'm not going to do that. I never will."

"I love you too," he smiled, pulling her in for another kiss. "I was going to wait to tell you until we were back at school, after all of this so I knew you weren't afraid of me, of what I am, but -"

"I know," Hazel confessed. "I may or may not have overheard you talking to your dad -"

"Wait," Remus laughed, sitting up a little too quickly. He had to pause to steady himself so he wouldn't pass out from the pain. "That means I did say it first."

"You said it to your dad, not to me. So I really said it first," she countered with a barely-contained smile.

"Okay, maybe, but I thought of it first."

"Did you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. The sudden seriousness turned into laughter as Hazel gently pulled him back down. "Come here, Rem. No matter who said it first, I love you."

"I love you too," he smiled, giving her a kiss and settling in for a nap.

When Hope came upstairs to check on them, she found the two curled up together, sleeping peacefully. She smiled to herself, glad that her son had someone who could be there for him throughout the school year, who could be there in a way his friends couldn't be. It was one thing to have friends like he did. It was another thing completely to have someone who loved him like that, who was more than willing to stay with him despite how much the world seemed to hate werewolves.

Thankfully Hope had the good sense to take a picture before she woke them for lunch.

They slept well into the afternoon, until Hazel sat up to stretch, Remus mumbling something under his breath. "'M a monster."

"You're not a monster, Rem," she whispered.

"Yeah I am," he replied sleepily. "Monster."

"Hmm, no you're not."

He was insistent, frowning a bit in his sleep. "Monster."

Hazel wanted to smile at the cute, half-asleep argument, but she couldn't. It was so ingrained in him that even now, even in the comfort of his own bed, he was afraid. So she planted a kiss on his cheek and pulled him a little closer. "Big, strong, handsome wolf, who I love very much," she corrected. "And the sweetest boy I could ever ask for."

"Mhm." He smiled in his sleep, seemingly content. "Love you very much."